Saturday, 10:00 am, April 9, 2005, Harriet Island, St. Paul, MN
By Ron Jacobson, Brian's grandfather

On Saturday morning at 10:00 am we held a News Conference in St. Paul to talk about Brian and to tell about the danger of cold water to swimmers. Three TV stations came and brought their big cameras and microphones to see and hear. Three cameramen and two TV reporters were there. We were very happy and grateful that they came to cover the story.

Photo by Tim O'Donnell

The first person to talk was Joel Heyn. He is a Conservation Officer with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. His job is to help people enjoy nature and be safe doing that. He welcomed everyone and said that the day had been officially proclaimed Brian James Jacobson Cold Water Awareness Day by Governor Tim Pawlenty.

He then said that the DNR, Red Cross and the Jacobson family were here to remind people about how the the water in lakes and rivers is still cold even after the ice disappears and how the cold water can make it impossible to swim. He said that the Mississippi River behind him was about 40 degrees F right now. If a person fell into the river, he would soon be unable to move his arms and legs. This means that the person soon could not swim and would drown. This is what we think happened to Brian last spring on April 30, 2004. We also think if he had only known how dangerous the cold water was and how it would make it impossible for him to swim, he might have done something else and would still be with us.

This is a copy of the official State Document that the Governor signed for Brian's day. The Secretary of State, Mary Kiffmeyer also signed the document and made a copy to record for the State archives. Brian's Mom and Dad have the original document.

Photo by Tim O'Donnell

Next, Brian's Grandpa Ron (that's me) spoke. I said we really miss Brian and that is why we are here. We want to honor Brian and we want to warn children and adults about the danger of cold water so that they will be safe and not drown.

Then I spoke about what happened to Brian. It was Friday afternoon, 4/30/04, school was out and Brian and his sister Laura were home down by the lake. It was sunny and windy. While playing along the shore, a toy began to float away, apparently caught by the wind. Laura wadded in after it. Brian pushed the family duck boat into the water and floated out to his sister. She caught the boat, pushed it back to shore and told Brian to wait. Then she wadded out again after the toy. Brian didn't wait, and soon sailed past his sister in the boat, no oars, no life jacket. Seeing that he was being blown away, he dived into the water to swim back to shore. He soon disappeared. His sister screamed, a visiting college student ran over, dived in, but soon developed cramps due to the cold water and had to return to shore. It was already too late. Four hours later volunteers lead by the LeSeur county sheriff found Brian's body. Brian had drowned.

We are not sure what happened to Brian as he tried to swim to shore. From the news conference, Kare-11 reporter Renee Tessman gave an interesting comment in her story* on the Kare-11 web page. In the middle of her report she said the following: "You may think Brian’s story is about hypothermia. It isn’t. True hypothermia doesn’t set in until someone has been in the water 30 minutes. That’s according to the U.S. Coast Guard which says there are actually two stages before hypothermia: cold shock and swimming failure. Of 58 cold water drownings examined by the Coast Guard, 44 people died before hypothermia set in. That’s what Brian’s family says happened to him. He disappeared below the surface in a matter of a few minutes."
* See web page: http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=78009

Photo by Tim O'Donnell

Next we did an experiment. What if you put your arm in cold water, what would the cold water do to you?

Keri Silvernagel from the Red Cross did the experiment. First she put her arm deep into warm water and picked up pennies from the bottom of the bucket and placed them into a glass inside the bucket on the bottom. The experiment was to see how many pennies she could pick up and put into the glass in 15 seconds. The rule was that she could only pick up one penny at a time. In the warm bucket ( 90 degrees F ) Keri was able to place 9 pennies in the glass. When she did it in the cold bucket ( 40 degrees F ), she was only able to place 7 pennies in the glass.

Photo by Tim O'Donnell

After Keri talked about the experiment and about the concern for swimming safety at Red Cross, Brian's family talked about Brian, how much we miss him, and what happened the day that he drowned, April 30, 2004. From left to right are Ron, Nina, Dan, Yvonne and a reporter.

Brian is missed by his mom, dad and sister Laura and all who knew and loved him. We all want you to be safe and to know about the danger of cold water. Brian would want that too.

This is Brian on his First Communion Day, Sunday, April 25, 2004. Five days later Brian went to heaven. He smiles on you and wants you to be safe in the water.

Many people helped to make the news conference on Saturday, April 9, 2005 possible. First of course are Brian's parents, Yvonne and Dan, and his sister Laura, who knew this was important to do and contributed throughout the process. Next were Brian's grandparents, Nina and Ron (myself), who hope with the family that this story will help others. Special volunteers and work associates include the following for these reasons: for starting and developing the nonprofit corporation: officers Claude Anderson, Karen Jensen, Ron Jacobson; for developing the web page: Karen Jensen, Karol Jensen, Amanda Warren; for media advice and encouragement: Linda Henning; for media advice, encouragement and rework of the news release: Bonnie Kollodge; for help in obtaining Red Cross participation: Steve Dornfeld, David Therkelsen of Red Cross; for media advice, encouragement and news conference pictures: Tim O'Donnell; for button and sign design: Gare Frick; for guidance in preparing for the event: Tim Smalley of DNR; for doing the event: Joel Heyn of DNR; for doing the event: Keri Silvernagel of Red Cross; for help in securing the Governor's proclamation: Representative Dennis Ozment and Don Bellfield; for making the proclamation: Governor Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer; for covering the news conference: WCCO-4, KSTP-5 and KARE-ll.