Creating Change on Beaches
Chris Vincent, mayor of Lauderdale by the Sea, thanked the family for working with them to inform others about what can happen with sand holes.
“First and foremost, our heavy hearts remain with Sloan’s family,” Vincent said in a statement. “As a father myself, I can’t fathom what they are going through. I want to thank them for staying in contact with us as we develop a national public safety campaign in Sloan’s memory. We will share it with as many coastal communities as possible to help prevent another unimaginable tragedy. We’re also discussing how we monitor our beach, a local Ordinance to ban digging on our beach, and the best way to honor Sloan.”
A study done by a Harvard Medical School detailed 52 cases over a 10-year period where people were buried by a collapsing dry-sand hole that had been dug out, 31 of those ending fatally.
Reports have found that an average of three to five children die in the U.S. each year when a sand hole they are digging, collapses on top of them.
While experts advise against digging holes in the sand at all, the safest precaution you can take if you do dig on the beach is to never go deeper than the shortest person’s knee.
