A former lifeguard at the Canadian park where a seven year-old Jamaican boy drowned on Saturday says his life could have been saved if the park had kept its lifeguards.
Javaughn Black drowned at Sandbanks Provincial Park, while he was visiting relatives in Canada.
A report on the Ottawa Citizen website says the former lifeguard, John Watts, worked at Sandbacks and other regional beaches before their lifeguarding programmes were cancelled.
In 2010, Mr. Watts wrote a report advising the return of lifeguards to Sandback, Wasaga Beach and Rockpoint, after the beaches had multiple drownings.
In 2011, the chief coroner’s office agreed with him and recommended that lifeguards should be present at high-volume public beaches, including Sandbanks.
But seven years later, there still exists no lifeguard programme at the park’s beaches.
Mr. Watts said potentially unsafe conditions at Sandbanks include a strong undertow, steep drop-offs and a riptide.
He said children could be a higher risk of drowning in these conditions.