Laura Day

Well, he wanted to go swimming.

Yes.

He wanted to go to the beach.

That was his idea.

Because I personally never saw him swim on the beach, I made him wear a life jacket.

And when I did that, he complained about it rubbing on the back of his neck.

It was giving him a rash, clearly.

I said, if you can show me that you're OK and you feel safe enough to dive under the waves,

and you feel comfortable, then I'll let you swim and play in the beach in the shallow water without your life jacket.

So I went in the water with him the first time to make sure that he was okay.

And he was squealing, having a good time, going diving under the waves like kids do.

Anyway, so as soon as I felt comfortable with him being alone, I went back right to the water's edge.

How far out did he go?

I don't know exactly, but you can go out far before the water gets deep.

And just a few minutes later, something pulled him out and sucked him under.

At first, I didn't understand.

I thought maybe he dived under the wave and he was swimming.

But then I realized he didn't surface.

And I ran in the water to where he was, and he was gone.

And then I saw him floating face down.