Central Arkansas woman’s nonprofit teaches importance of water safety, created in honor of husband who drowned

CONWAY, Ark.- A central Arkansas woman created a memorial foundation to honor her husband who drowned, hoping to make sure his legacy is never forgotten.

Melanie Brindley said the mission of the Ken Brindley Memorial Foundation is to advocate for water safety education and provide scholarships for swim lessons & general education, as well as swim safety equipment.

Melanie said she created the foundation after losing her husband, Ken Brindley, 21 years ago when he ran into the ocean at Grayton Beach in Florida under a red flag warning to save a drowning child. The child was saved, but the rip current took Ken's life.

"I think that just knowing how much he wanted to be a resource of help to other people helped me," Melanie Brindley said.

After the loss, Melanie Brindley said she began learning more about water safety, even traveling to other states to become more self-aware and help her understand how this could have happened to her husband.

Melanie said she found a community of families who experienced losing a family member to drowning, all of them banding together around the U.S....