Lake Pueblo hosts ‘Water Safety Day’ just a few weeks after 18-year-old drowns
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - Lake Pueblo partnered with Central High School to host a "Water Safety Day" on Saturday before the football game at Dutch Clark Stadium.
This event means more as the community is still mourning the loss of an 18-year-old former player who drowned in Lake Pueblo, David Sanchez.
RELATED: 18-year-old identified in Lake Pueblo State Park suspected drowning
We spoke to his father before the game in the parking lot of the Dutch Clark Stadium because entering and remembering is still too painful.
"For whatever reason, he decided to go into that water that day. The lord had plans for him," says Daniel Sanchez, David's father.
Daniel still doesn't know why his son didn't wear a life jacket on Tuesday, August 12. He says Pueblo Lake was David’s favorite place to be when he wasn't playing sports, like football.
In fact, Daniel tells KRDO13 he was against his son playing football because he didn’t want him to get hurt. But watching him play, he couldn't help but be supportive.
"Before, you know it...I found a spot in the stands, and I don't think I ever sat down," says Daniel Sanchez.
Daniel hopes that the community will heed this tragedy and take safety at the lake seriously.
For many, these safety precautions are repeated to the point of annoyance. But no parent should be standing on the outside of the stadium reminiscing on how they used to be in the crowd, cheering.
That's why CPW has teamed with Central High School and is ensuring that the kids and their futures are protected.
"I want our youth to be safe. I want them to keep coming back to school. I want to see them graduate, and I want their siblings to do the same," says Heather Huffman, the principal secretary at Central High School.
Ahead of Saturday's football game, CPW shared water safety resources and spoke to students and families about their life jacket loaner program, which provides free life jackets to visitors of the lake.
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