Family of drowned toddler speak out about water safety
The family of a drowned toddler have said she was the light of her parents' life - and warned others to learn from their tragedy.
Two-year-old Lah-Theah managed to crawl through a broken fence into a neighbour's swimming pool in Balga.
A week later, in Perth's east, a boy the same age as Lah-Theah also drowned - this time in a relative's pool in Maida Vale
Lah-Theah loved her little puppy Tulip and followed it everywhere.
Two weeks ago, she followed Tulip through a hole in the neighbour's fence and drowned.
When Lah-Theah's mum Bernadette saw the hole, which was hidden by plants, she panicked.
She found Lah-Theah lifeless body in the swimming pool next door.
"She's the only child, she meant the world to them," Lah-Theah's grandmother Michelle Nelson-Cox said.
On Thursday Royal Life Saving launched the new Keep Watch campaign, which warns: "water is only safe while you're watching."
Their advice to parents is to make sure they check their pool barrier and gate and ensure they are in good working order.
RLS figures reveal 64 children aged under five have drowned in WA in 15 years, more than half in home swimming pools.
Local councils monitor 150,000 home pools in WA every four years.
Lah-Theah's grandmother now wants the checks to become more frequent.
"If we can make a small change to stop it from happening or preventing another child, or any family ever experiencing this, let's do it," she said.
