Granger and Amber Smith Celebrate Major Milestone After Son’s Death
By Movieguide® Contributor
Country singer Granger Smith and his wife Amber celebrated a swimming milestone reached by their 8-month-old son Maverick and shared why it is important to teach young children to swim.
The couple tragically lost their son River in 2019 in a drowning accident. He was 3 years old. The Smiths have become outspoken advocates for children’s safety around water.
Smith recently shared a video of 8 month-old Maverick in the pool, marveling at his floating abilities.
“I never thought I would post something like this, but my mind is blown. This is a vid of our 8 month old Maverick on his 10th ISR (infant swim rescue) lesson,” the country singer wrote. “He’s in full clothes and diaper. He can barely crawl, but now he knows how to hold his breath, twist his body, find the air, float on his back and cry. He can do this falling in head first, feet first or any orientation. He has the skills to float until help comes.
“He’s a warrior and doesn’t even realize it,” Smith continued. “He’s an example for many families who see this video. Only ONE person needs to see this, and hear my plea to you. Drowning is the #1 accidental death of children age 4 and under. Thinking that adult supervision is enough is an absolutely DEADLY miscalculation. Hear me. I used to think that too.”
Amber also shared photos of Maverick floating.
“Guys, I get it. It can seem scary when you see a video of a crying baby being led to fall into a body of water,” she wrote. “You know what’s scarier and more painful? Losing a child to a fatal drowning. This wasn’t easy for me. Seeing him cry those first few lessons, I wanted to scoop him right up, but I trusted the process and I watched as it worked every step of the way! We made the decision to give Maverick the skills he needed to find the air, the skills River needed that we didn’t know about, and my goodness, he did it!!”
Movieguide® previously reported on the Smith family’s loss:
Country music singer Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, told PEOPLE magazine that their faith has been their strength since their son, River, tragically died just over a year ago in a freak drowning accident.
“I feel like I’ve died,” he said. “It’s not a bad thing that that ‘me’ died. In fact, I think it’s all good. It’s only good.”
Granger’s words echo scripture that tells us we must die to ourselves in order to be alive in Christ. By recognizing this, Granger says he has grown in his relationship with the Lord.
He added, “I feel wiser. I feel more in tune spiritually. I feel more aware of our present moment and the value in the present moment, the value in the current breath that we have.”
Since that tragic day in June 2019, Granger and Amber have done a few things to try to grapple with their grief.
Talking about his faith, Granger said, “For me, that’s pretty much all I’ve had. My brain is not capable of calculating that magnitude of a loss, and then I have to realize that I don’t have to. I can lean on a higher power for that and know that my little boy is in a better place.”
Amber said she has, “Never felt closer to God than I did from the night of the accident on. I’ve never felt that he has left me or forsaken me.”
Last month, Amber shared a post on Instagram marking the one-year mark of their loss. Part of the caption reads, “God is still good. Exactly 1 year later, today, we close on our new land. The timing is not lost on me. God is guiding us and I feel Riv with us every step of the way.”
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