As we kick-start National Water Safety Month, you might want to think twice before you enter any body of water.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, drowning was the third leading cause of injury-related death in children ages 0-14 between 2017 and 2019.
I reached out to some residents in Lake Arthur to see what precautions they're taking this year.
15-year-old Ruby Benoit told me she swims at the Lake Arthur Park often, but her parents gave her some safety tips about the water.
"Today we have about a four-foot-long alligator," Benoit said. "It's somewhere in the water. It ducked down, but it was in here and we were going to swim, but we’re going to take it safe and just walk around today."
I asked Benoit if she has ever spotted an alligator in the lake while swimming in the past and she said:
"I have with my little cousins," Benoit said. "And I didn’t want to rush them...I just told them it’s time to get out the water and get some more sunscreen...I did not scare them until we got out to tell them what happened, but there was a gator in the water with us."
While Benoit and her loved ones still swim in the park, other residents like Joshua Turner told me they prefer to enjoy the boardwalk.
"I don’t swim here," Turner said. "I mean as far as alligators and stuff like that, I used to swim here when I was small, but not anymore."
Turner is not the only parent who doesn't get in the water at Lake Arthur Park.
Edmona Charles told me swimming is also off limits for both her and her family.
"Between the alligators, the undercurrent that’s real bad in this water, the tree stumps that they cut down...and as you can see...in the back of me, it’s filled with nothing but duck poop," Charles said.
Charles told me her cousin, Kyler Rankin was named a hometown hero back in 2015, after saving a man from drowning on Memorial Day.
I spoke to Rankin over the phone, who told me the experience was bittersweet...while he saved one man, two others did not make it.
"It was pretty windy that day, so the waves were higher than normal," Rankin said over the phone. "I guess they just couldn’t fight against the waves [in Lake Arthur Park]. I guess they just weren’t strong enough swimmers and started to panic."
The U.S. Coast Guard advises children and adults to wear certified life vests while swimming or boating and to ensure the vests fit snug and are properly maintained.
