SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) – When Michelle Zieg bought her above-ground pool, she never could’ve imagined it would cost her the life of her son.
In 2008, her 17-month-old son, Brayden, drowned in what she didn’t realize was a completely unprotected pool. Her world was turned upside down, and years later, she and her family are turning that pain into action.
“As parents, you think that it’ll never happen to me,” she said. “You hear about all the things. We had done all the research. We had talked about all the things. The accident changed our lives forever.”
Zieg then created the nonprofit organization Because of B.R.A.Y.D.E.N. to spread awareness of the dangers of pools and to educate families about water safety and drowning prevention.
The organization partners with Lowcountry swim schools like Sink or Swim in Summerville and pushes for swimming lessons and offers water safety presentations to schools and camps.
Drowning is the number one cause of death for children ages one through four, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There’s not one thing that’s going to stop it,” Zeig said. “So, we talk about layers of protection. There are so many things we believe need to be in place.”
She said the layers of protection can include setting alarms on doors and windows, locking doggy doors, ensuring supervision at all times and installing fencing around the yard and the pool itself.
Her son, Nathaniel, was with Brayden when he drowned and has since made it his mission to push for safer pools through fencing.
As an extension of Because of B.R.A.Y.D.E.N., he created A Safe Pool Charleston to help install mesh pool safety barriers to help prevent drownings before they happen.
A Safe Pool Charleston installs removable mesh pool fences, nets and covers all on a mission to keep children safe. The fences come in four different colors and three different heights.
“Just adding this one layer of protection can decrease your risk of drowning or anyone’s risk of drowning by about 83%,” Nathaniel said. “75% of drownings happen in a backyard pool, and many of them are not even at swim time.”
The mesh is both durable and flexible, and allows for 100 pounds of force and protection.
“The fact that I get to sell and install these pool fences and see these families is probably one of the best things I could have asked for,” Nathaniel Zieg said. “I could have never dreamed of doing this because of how it aligns with what I went through, what my family went through.”
The mother and son are urging Lowcountry residents to take water safety seriously and to remember that drownings can happen to anyone, anywhere, with any skill level.
“It’s a passion, it’s a mission, and to me it’s healing,” Michelle Zieg said. “It gives me purpose in that pain. No one should ever bury your child. I’ll never fully, you know, never not regret what we didn’t know.”
To find out more about Because of B.R.A.Y.D.E.N., click here, and for more information on safety pool fences, click here.
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