Jake – Age 3
Jake, Age 3
Thanksgiving Weekend, 2013 was supposed to be a wonderful time of visiting family and traveling for the Morrison family. But on Saturday, November 30, Keri and Roarke’s precious son, Jake, slipped out the door at the home they were visiting and made his way to the intracoastal waters near New Smyrna, Florida. It was dark, and it took some time for them to find Jake. He was rushed to the hospital, but they were unable to revive him. The Morrisons did not have a pool, nor live on the water, so they had not been in a hurry to get Jake into swim lessons. The traditional lessons he had done previously, he didn’t enjoy, so they paused and planned to resume the following year when he was older.
Jake was full of life, had a huge smile for everyone, loved to meet new people and filled his family’s life with joy. When Keri and Roarke founded Live Like Jake, they wanted to share Jake’s beautiful life with others, to encourage people to find joy in the small things, to not get bogged down with petty or inconsequential things, and to share a smile and friendship with others. Live Like Jake has reached thousands of people through financial help and scholarships for families to take survival swim lessons, scholarships for new ISR instructors to train, and emotional help for families affected by drowning. Live Like Jake was a motivator for CAST’s founder, Liz Huber when she first began training to be an ISR instructor, and then as she began CAST. Keri and her team at Live Like Jake have encouraged, offered guidance, advice and support to CAST from the beginning. The CAST family is proud to call the Morrisons friends and partners. CAST’s Founders are also proud to be supporters of the Live Like Jake nationwide scholarship fund.