By the time Raphael and Ricardo Rambaran had taken their second gulp of seawater, a terrible tragedy was in the making.
The young brothers had probably been pushed out by the backwash of waves at Balandra, which had just broken on the shore line.
Tragically for these 15 and 16-year-old boys, this everyday wave/beach action probably caught them by surprise and created tremendous fear. Great fear caused them to lose their senses in the precious moments when their lives could easily have been saved. Unable to touch the ground they probably panicked, their breathing became rapid and they ingested more and more water.
By the time that they had taken three or four more gulps of water, a great sorrow had been determined for their family and for all those who value precious young lives.
This unspeakably sad story has been retold time and time again and in the majority of tragic cases reported in T&T in 2014 and 2015; the victims are principally children.
Anyone who has ever been involved in a near drowning experience as I was when I was eight years old will know immediately the great helplessness and panic that sets in. From that moment of panic all risks increase and the chances of survival grow slim.
The antidote for panic in the water is the confidence that comes from even a few basic swimming lessons.
In a country like ours, surrounded by sea and blessed with countless rivers and streams, it seems unthinkable that we are not teaching our children to swim at any stage of their educational process.
Here then, is a place where we can put ourselves to good purpose as a nation and save so many of the young lives which are going to be lost in the months and years ahead.
Perhaps our swimming heroes George Bovell and Dylan Carter can use their influence to encourage the Ministry of Education to add swimming to the school curriculum and to begin the process of building swimming pools at schools all over our country.
Saving lives is heroic and heroes are urgently needed in this situation.
With deepest sympathy to the Rambaran family on their tragic loss.
Gregory Aboud
Port-of-Spain