CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — A Port Charlotte dad is using personal loss to help prevent future happenings.
In 2010, Paul Demello lost his twin sons in a drowning. A scenario that all too many Florida parents face on a daily basis.
Across the shores of Southwest Florida…
"Drowning is not seasonal, it’s all year round. It can and does happen.”
Demello is taking on this fight.
“If I can help somebody else, maybe another family, not go through what we’ve gone through as a family- it helps. It’s almost like a form of therapy.”
Demello's twin sons — Joshua and Christian — drowned 12 years ago.
"The thing I struggle with the most as far as a grieving dad is walking them out to the baseball field," he says. "You know helping them learn how to ride a bike, teaching them how to ride a bike. So yeah, I miss them.”
So Demello used his loss to launch a non profit called Just Against Children Drowning. It's named after his boys. The goal is to raise awareness at home and in public swimming areas.
"We’ve partnered up with other companies like life Saver Pool Fence to make sure that they have a fence so it doesn’t happen again.”
Demello’s story has even reached a national level.
"There’s just something about bikers. They’re very loving and caring, you know?”
He got the chance to meet the cast and crew of Orange County Choppers. But that meeting didn’t happen all by chance. Demello entered in a competition to win a bike designed and built by OCC. And he won.
"It’s a great feeling. I didn’t expect it and yet here we are and they say it’s going to take about 8 to 10 months.”
And once the bike is finished he’s looking to use it to gain more traction here at home.
"In this area, we do a walk each year. Either that or we do it at Laishley Park across the way and then we do a bike run. If we come together as a community we can definitely do more together than what we can do alone.”
If you're interested in learning more about Demello's non profit Just Against Children Drowning, you can find more information online here.
