TAMPA, Fla — Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4 in the state of Florida. It's a statistic no one wants to find out for themselves.
Unfortunately for one Tampa Bay family, that became a reality in March 2020 when their 16-month-old daughter drowned in the family pool. Now they are sharing their story and their mission to help keep other families from experiencing such a tragedy.
Matt Strojnowski can't help but smile when he talks about his little girl, Aubrey.
"Aubrey was a very happy baby. Always smiling and she loved to eat. She would roam around the kitchen and she would just point to the pantry when she wanted something out of the pantry."
Aubrey's mom, Kristen talks about how affectionate she was. "And she loved to give hugs and kisses and she loved her big sister Olivia so much."
But in March of 2020, when everyone was getting adjusted to working from home, Kristen and Matt suddenly realized little Aubrey was missing. Matt described what happened.
"I thought she was with Kristen and Kristen thought she was with me. And she got out one of the sliding glass doors and through the pool fence."
Kristen says Aubrey had never shown any interest in trying to get outside or to the pool.
"We had no idea that drowning was the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4."
Now Kristen and Matt want to make sure others know that statistic and do everything they can to prevent it from happening to another child.
They are working with Water Smart Tots, a foundation that provides water safety programs and scholarships for swim survival lessons. They are holding a fundraiser on Oct. 2 called Walk For Aubrey.
"I want to educate people, but I also want it to be a celebration for her because since her accident did happen right around the time of Covid, with everything shut down, we were never really able to celebrate her life."