Thursday, 31 October 2024

Water safety

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (17:34): (909) My adjournment is for the Premier, and the action I seek is more action from her government to prevent more tragic drownings on the Mornington Peninsula. On 31 August 2024 a young man passed away in the waters off Rye Pier. Tonight I want to use this opportunity to read some words provided to me by Lincoln Harris’s family. The first letter is from Bridget Styles, who is Lincoln’s mother.

No Mother should ever bury a child, the night I heard my Lincoln had passed away will always be the worst night of my life. Then I asked how? To find out it was through drowning but to hear how it happened just devastated me. I was told by his partner Jiwon that he had jumped in to get her bag as it had fallen in the water but he then let go of the bag as he realised the water was stronger than him. She told me he cried out for help twice and others on the jetty tried to grab him with their fishing lines or whatever was there but it was too late. I believe if there had been life buoys on the jetty this may of saved his life.

Whatever the cost of life buoys does it matter when it comes to people’s lives. Those of you listening to this letter just think to yourselves how you would feel if you had a child that lost his life to drowning, who was fit, young and strong and had an entire life ahead of him. If there had been just one life buoy this would have changed the sequence of events where he would have gone home that afternoon and lived his life and we all would have not buried our beautiful son, brother, partner and friend.

The second letter is from Mark Harris and Sharron Dorrian, Lincoln’s father and stepmother:

On the Saturday night of 31/08/2024, the eve before Father’s Day, we were out celebrating an early Father’s Day dinner with both our fathers when Mark received a telephone call that no parent would want to hear. That his second and middle son Lincoln Harris had died, accidentally drowned that afternoon.

It was such a shock and with disbelief. To see the reaction of the news on Lincoln’s grandparents’ faces was heartbreaking. Father’s Day never to be the same, will be bittersweet for the rest of our lives.

Since that day we have so many thoughts, questions, what ifs.

We visited Rye Pier the morning of Lincoln’s funeral, which was held last Wednesday, 11/09/2024, afternoon. We went to see where Lincoln spent his last hours and to try and understand the situation on that fateful day.

Our major concern is the lack of life saving devices on the pier. We do believe if there had been a lifebuoy available on the pier Lincoln would have been given a chance to be with us today and the witnesses would not have experienced a tragedy, or hold the traumatic memory for the rest of their lives, especially Lincoln’s girlfriend Jiwon.

I know it is too late for Lincoln but with the feelings and experience of what we have suffered over these last few days I implore that lifebuoy be compulsory items on all piers and jetties, to be akin with Australian law requiring Safety of Life at Sea.

If ‘Lincoln’s legacy’ can be to avoid such a tragedy as drowning for even one life in the future it shall be well worth it.

Premier, please do not let Lincoln’s life be just a number. Do something to stop the next tragic drowning.