DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (BRPROUD) — “My loving baby. That’s my baby boy,” is how Dwayne Dendy describes his four-year-old son, Justin Dendy. “Justin was a loving soul that no one could ever even imagine.”
The four-year-old wandered off and died in a drowning accident inside a neighborhood pool last week, according to Dendy.
“The only thing we can figure out is that he walked up to their yard. He saw something in the pool, or one of his balls went into the pool, it was one of the two. We don’t know, and he tried to get it and he fell in,” said Dendy.
To honor the toddler, community and family members united as one at the Live Oaks Sports Complex with different colors of balloons on Wednesday.
Now, Dendy not only wants to keep his son’s memory alive, but fight for a way to save future children from drowning.
“We’re going to be pushing for a Justin’s law. That law is basically, you know, there will be no grandfather clause for people to have pools that are prior to 2012,” said Dendy.
Now, he emphasizes parents to know inside their neighborhoods to avoid future tragedies.
“I didn’t have an idea that they had a swimming pool back there,” Dendy said. “Every parent should go out there and look through their neighborhood to see if you know who’s got what. I don’t want to ever have to see a child of a parent, you know, that would go through the same heartache that I’m going through right now.”
Dendy also emphasized gratitude towards the Denham Springs community and the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office who have helped him and his family in many ways.
