ROLLA, Mo. — A popular Missouri swimming destination is buckling down on safety after two young men, an 18- and-19-year-old, drowned last summer.
David Jackson was preparing for his sophomore year at Milliken University in Decatur, Illinois. He was with two of his best friends at Fugitive Beach in Rolla, Missouri, when all of a sudden he went under. A former lifeguard jumped into saved him and performed CPR. Jackson died several days later at Mercy Hospital.
“The year for me has been really different dealing with the loss of a child and dealing with two other children who are going through this,” said Catherine Russell, Jackson’s mother.
Kalon Green, an 18-year-old from Belleville, Illinois, was the second victim to drown at Fugitive Beach during the summer of 2017.
These two tragedies prompted Mark Kearse, the owner of The Fugitive Beach, to make some major changes.
“I can’t live everyday thinking, ‘is someone going to drown today?’ said Kearse.
Now, everyone has to wear a life jacket in the deep end, which is 15-feet deep. You have to keep the life jacket on when you jump off the side or slide down one of the water slides. Kids 10-years-old and under have to have a life jacket at all times.
“I just believe God put all the rivers and the lakes and the seas where he wanted them, so when we as human beings decide to add our input, it’s not that he doesn’t want us to do it, but he wants us to be that much more careful,” Russell explained.
