RIVERVIEW, Fla. (WFLA) — After her son almost drowned decades ago, Kari Bahour knew she had a new mission in life.
“I grabbed the phone, I called 911 as I’m darting out the door, there’s my son. Fully clothed, winter clothes,” she said. “It was the scariest moment of my life.”
For 23 years, Bahour has taught survival swim lessons to children as young as 6 months old. Her goal is to give children the skills they need to save their own lives in the event they wander into a swimming pool with no adult supervision.
“If your child was able to get to the pool alone unsupervised for 30 seconds, would he have the skills he needs to save himself, to buy more time? Ask yourself that,” she says to parents.
She teaches four days a week for 11 hours a day. She says most lessons are only about five minutes at a time during the 6-week course, which costs roughly $600. But, she says she has never turned someone away because of cost.
In addition to her coaching, she runs a non-profit called Water Smart Tots. You can learn more about both by clicking on this link.
“It’s not a one person responsibility, it’s not a one organization responsibility, it’s an entire community responsibility,” Bahour added.
