Grieving Parents Fund Children's Swimming Lessons After Their Baby Drowned

To honor the death of their son, they will fund a children's swimming lessons program to lessen the drowning rate on their farm. He loved people and was known as "Phar Lap's heart," with blue eyes and great, cheeky smiles. He loved them.

However, during a flirtation accident in Grahamvale, the beloved 2-year-old sadly drowned, leaving Matt Boyle and Ashlie Napolitano behind his distraught parents.

The family members now face the unthinkable - the loss of "their precious little soul," which they said shone every day. During a visit to his grandfather's farm, Hunter drowned in the Grahamvale dam. He fed horses around 11:20 a.m. when he was lost in a split second and tragically discovered to be in the water unresponsive a short time later.

They also thanked the police officers and Ambulance paramedics, who immediately attended the scene. They stayed with the couple as they helplessly watched their son fight for his life.

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Hunter was raced into Shepparton's Goulburn Valley Health to spend nearly seven hours battling to save his life. The physicians and health care workers were Royal Children's Hospital PIPER Unit members. Around 30 employees at GV Health struggled relentlessly to revive Hunter and miraculously succeeded in making his heartbeat again.

For little Hunter, the struggle was excessive, and he died that night around 6:30.

Matt and Ashlie accepted with heartfelt condolence from all the GV Health workers as the couple struggling to cope with the loss of their only child.

They also thanked the police and paramedics who were present at the scene and in Ambulance. That was already eight months ago.  The nightmare of a parent, Ashlie Napolitano, when the two-year-old son of her husband drowned in a barrage on his grandparents' farm, can't go in vain. Hunter is one of thirteen children who drowned since last July in Victoria.

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Children's swimming lessons a must

Now, Ms. Napolitano and fiancée Matt Boyle honor their kid's memory by collecting money to cover children's bathroom lessons for the families in difficulty. They founded the Hunter Boyle Children's Swim Program.

The couple in Shepparton want money in the countryside for families. They said they have friends on the farms who struggle financially. Sadly, sometimes swimming lessons have to sit back and hold the roof over them, buy food and maintain electricity. So, they decided to take the pressure away, since in farms there will always be a dam, or a canal, or creek or river or some open body of water. They want to remind those living on a farm must know how to swim.

Currently, they work with the Kidsafe child crash prevention organization, which refers to families in need of the Bridge Street Youth Services in Shepparton.

READ MORE: Your Child's Extra Lessons Do Cost You a Little Extra

So far, they earned almost $40,000 for swimming lessons, and the money went to the first families last week. Ms. Courtney of Kidsafe said that the curriculum was necessary because Victoria has a high drowning rate. The swimming lessons had been disrupted as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Hunter's parents are now adamant about ensuring that no family has no awareness of water security and reinforces parents' message that they don't indulge in water.

Ms. Napolitano said, "We would love one day to fund lessons for children Australia-wide. There are children everywhere, due to a range of reasons, who don't have the opportunity to attend lessons."

Ms. Napolitano added that there are so many ways children can drown in the home. The parents will never know how many lives they will save, but they will surely make a difference.