The 13thannual Twins Tot Vigil was held last Friday evening in Naples. Dr. Jim Mahon began the ceremony.
“This was a tough year for us in Collier County. In Florida, we’ve had 119 child drowning deaths, and we had three in Collier County, and that was way too many,” said Dr. Mahon.
2025 had the highest number of child drowning deaths recorded in the state. And drowning, which is completely preventable, is the highest cause of death for children ages 1 through 4.
At the vigil, first responders spoke about the importance of adults supervising children at all times while in water and learning CPR, teaching children to swim, and putting self-locking gates and alarms on pools.
Paul DeMello’s twin boys, Josh and Christian, drowned as infants in 2010. He stressed the need for legislation to protect children.
“We need help. And legislation would probably cut the drowning numbers in half. And you can definitely start at swimming pools.Two-thirds of our drownings have been happening in backyard swimming pools. Swimming pools without safety fences, without self-latching gates. Legislation could do something with that,” DeMello said.
At the event in Baker Park, parents, loved ones, first responders, and others observed candles in colorful containers painted with the names of children who drowned, as those names were read aloud. Butterflies representing the children were set free in the serene atmosphere of the park.
For more information about water safety, go to watersmartcollier.com.
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