This Sunday, on the Channel 9 program 60 Minutes, there will be a story that is close to the hearts of many Parkes residents.
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It is about Shallow Water Blackout.
In December, 2001, a well-known local 12 year old boy, Nic Fisher, drowned in his family’s backyard pool in chest deep water, even though he was a strong swimmer and an accomplished water skier.
For many years his family and friends were unable to understand or explain what had happened.
Then, in January 2013, a 12 year old boy, Jack McMillan drowned in identical circumstances near Wollongong.
His aunty, Sharon Washborne, then launched the Shallow Water Blackout website in Australia, as this was the official cause of death.
It is a bizarre and mystifying accident that can happen to anyone.
It usually happens to strong, capable swimmers.
Nic and Jack were amongst the youngest, as it commonly occurs to people, usually men, in the mid 20s or older.
The 60 Minutes segment will hopefully raise more awareness of the dangers of long breath holding and the consequences of Shallow Water Blackout.
The Fisher family are not actually featured in the story but they have spent many hours trying to assist the Shallow Water Blackout Australia to educate the nation and to hopefully, prevent any more deaths from repeated breath holding activities.