The image of his daughter's long blonde hair floating around her face beneath the surface of his backyard pool is one that Steve Reeves, founder of Howard's Hope, cannot shake since a near-drowning incident four years ago.
Reeves was within two seconds of losing his 4-year-old's life as the result of what he describes as a typical drowning scenario. While hosting a backyard party with friends and their children, he had cautioned the group to keep their eye on the pool with the knowledge his youngest daughter was unable to swim.
"I was at the grill and was taking a platter of burgers and dogs towards the veranda, when I happened to look into the pool and saw my daughter at the bottom," he said.
Reeves immediately dove in and retrieved his daughter from the pool floor in a "moment of stark terror."
"She's got beautiful blue eyes and hers and mine locked. She looked into my eyes and they kind of said, 'Help me daddy.' It's a vision I will never forget," he said, recalling the moment he reached her in the water.
After saving his daughter's life, Reeves and his wife founded Howard's Hope, a Tennessee-based nonprofit, dedicated to preventing juvenile drownings. Howard's Hope's Flying Fish program provides free swim lessons for children residing in economically disadvantaged households.
The organization recently filled four swim classes in Hot Springs with 5- to 12-year-old children through its partnership with Quapaw Community Center and Diamond Lakes Aquatics, with lessons scheduled from March 26 to May 16.
"When we did the research, we found that most of the children that drown come from households who may not necessarily have the money to pay for formal swim lessons or that there is a generational fear," Reeves said.
Through the program, more than 700 children have learned the lifesaving skill, with a 95-percent success rate, according to Howard's Hope's aquatics director.
"If we see a kid in our class that doesn't know how to swim, most likely mom and dad don't know how to swim either. We are trying to break that generational barrier and reverse that trend," Reeves said.
Reeves said he believes the growth potential is unlimited for the program, citing a 2017 study by the USA Swimming Foundation that found 64 percent of African-American children, 45 percent of Hispanic/Latino children and 40 percent of Caucasian children had little to no swimming ability.
The study also found 79 percent of children in families with household incomes less than $50,000 had little to no swimming ability.
Arkansas Children's Hospital saw 23 admissions due to drowning or near-drowning, with patients' ages ranging from 6 months to 17 years old, in 2017, according to its website.
Reeves believes that near-drowning scenarios "can be just as life-altering."
"Kids can suffer irreparable brain damage, you don't normally hear about the children whose lives are permanently damaged from sustaining water-related injuries even though they didn't drown," he said.
The program's lessons are typically funded by grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee Health Foundation and the United Way, but Reeves said Howard's Hope is consistently looking for local sponsors, in the nine cities they serve through Arkansas and Tennessee, for community support.
Local on 03/19/2018