William Morgan
The mother of a three-year-old boy who fatally drowned in a backyard pool has shared a warning about water safety to other families a year on from the 'preventable' tragedy.
Influencer Emilie Kiser, 27, shared her warning in an emotional TikTok video to mark the heartbreaking anniversary of her son's death, which also coincides with Water Safety Awareness Month.
Emilie's three-year-old son Trigg fell into a swimming pool while unsupervised in the family's backyard, while she was not home and her husband Brady, 29, was watching their new baby Teddy, who is now one.
Trigg died in hospital six days after the fall, May 18, 2025. Emilie said: "This is a topic that I will continue to talk about when I feel comfortable, because it is so extremely hard to talk about, and I hope that people can understand that."
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Continuing to talk on the tragedy that 'there is no right or wrong way to talk about', Emilie added: "Our son's death was very preventable.
"It was an accident, but it was a preventable accident. I will always take full accountability for that, because as a parent, it is your job to protect your child."
Her experience has galvanized the mom to warn others about the dangers of drowning for very young children, citing some troubling statistics that many parents are not aware of.
"Drowning is the number one cause of death in children 3 and under," she said.. "And that is an extremely hard statistic to swallow because I truly just can't believe how much it happens."
With so many children dying needlessly as a result of this lack of awareness about the dangers that water can pose, Emilie is advising parents to consider taking 'more preventive measures to protect their children.'
Before explaining what parents needed to do, first she implored: "I really hope that if you see this video, you please, please, please install a pool fence. Make sure you have door alarms. Make sure if you have door alarms, all of your batteries are updated.
"Please make sure that you watch your children around water."
In addition to making sure your child is always supervised when near water, Emilie wants more parents to consider enrolling their children in Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) lessons, which she has now done with her son Teddy.
She said: "ISR gives your child a chance to live. We have already seen such a dramatic change in our son, who is only a year old, by having him in ISR lessons every single day.
"I cannot believe how quickly he has picked up techniques. I'm so proud of him, and I really hope that other parents sign their kids up."
And it's not just preventative measures that can help if something goes wrong. "CPR is so important, and knowing how to do CPR so important," Emilie added.
"Whether it's your child, whether it's another child, whether it's an adult that you need to help, knowing CPR is so important, whether it's drowning, choking, anything else."