05-05-2025
Life ring station at Boca Raton park aims to prevent drowning in name of teen who died
BOCA RATON — Aden Perry was 17 years old when he heroically died trying to save a man from drowning. His mother, with him at the time, is doing what she can to prevent anything similar from happening again.
"I have a voice," Sarah Perry said. "I speak for every other mom, every other child that has lost their life in the water, every other adult, anybody. This has to stop."
About two years ago, Perry started an initiative to install life rings in waterways to prevent drownings, a move inspired by her son. Through her, the Aden Perry Foundation has since donated close to 500 life rings across South Florida. The latest was installed at Boca Raton's South Inlet park May 1.
"I didn't invent the life ring," Perry said. "I just realized that they're not there. They just need to be available to be used, to be efficient."
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The installation of the life ring buoy station at South Inlet Park comes through a partnership between the Aden Perry Foundation and the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department.
At the May 1 unveiling, Ocean Rescue personnel performed a mock rescue in the inlet. It included a jet-ski deployment with a victim and a rescue swimmer on standby, while another guard demonstrated the proper use of the ring buoy station by throwing the life ring to assist the victim.
The life ring, which sits in a bright red casing, can be easily accessed by people of any age.
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"My message is that anybody, from the youngest child to grandma or grandpa, can use one of my life rings to save a life," Perry said. "There's no training necessary. We install them at a height where they are easily accessible to a child or an adult, even somebody in a wheelchair."
In case of an emergency, instructions at the buoy stations encourage people to dial 911. Otherwise, they are straightforward.
"Use at your own risk," the stations read. "Throw … don't go!"
And they state that the rescue rings are for emergency use only.
"It's important that somebody can grab them and go," Perry said, emphasizing the instructions for people to throw the life rings, rather than jump into the water themselves. "Every second counts in a water emergency."
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South Inlet Park's buoy station isn't the only one residents in Palm Beach County will see this summer. Three more of the stations were recently installed at Ocean Inlet Park in Boynton Beach, Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach and Jupiter Beach Park.
The initiative supports National Water Safety Month, observed annually in May to raise awareness about water safety and drowning prevention.
Drowning is the primary cause of injury-related deaths in kids between the ages of 1 and 4, said Dr. Shannon Fox-Levine, a pediatrician with Palm Beach Pediatrics.
"This is the age group that, if there's water, they'll find it," Fox-Levine said.
Prevention strategies depend on age.
"We say baby-proofing a house, but it really means adult supervision at all times in some form," Fox-Levine said.
While supervision is key, Fox-Levine suggests that parents enroll children older than age 1 in swim lessons. For people with swimming pools, she recommends a four-sided fence surrounding the pool with an automatic locking gate that should always be closed. And, if you have a boat, a life preserver is critical, she said.
Fox-Levine also encourages all parents to learn CPR.
"You could really just Google 'CPR classes,'" she said. "There's all different types."
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Perry, who lives in Broward County, was walking her dog with her son the night he died. He had jumped into a lake where a driver had just landed, in his car, after losing control on the road. After hitting his head on a rock, Aden died instantly, Perry said. The driver, an 18-year-old man, drowned soon afterward.
"He was an amazing young man," Perry said. "He had a heart to give back and make a difference. He wanted to be a neurosurgeon."
Perry described Aden as the type of kid who always wanted to help others. If he went to school with money on him, he'd end up giving it away. He'd come home without his shoes, Perry said, after giving those away, too.
In August 2023, Aden Perry was awarded the Carnegie Medal. It's a prestigious honor given by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission for civilian acts of heroism in the United States and Canada.
Perry hopes to see her life ring initiative expand far beyond South Florida.
"I would like to take this anywhere and everywhere that I possibly can," Perry said.
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Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@ and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca Raton: New life ring station aims to prevent drowning
