VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Washington D.C. family is trying to turn a tragedy into change one year after their 12-year-old son drowned in Virginia Beach.
Zamari Wilson stayed at the Delta Marriott in Virginia Beach for a family vacation over the July 4th holiday weekend in 2022. On the last day of their vacation, Zamari went swimming in the Chesapeake Bay and did not return.
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His mother, Brenda Wilson, said she knew something was wrong and immediately alerted hotel staffers.
"I ran over there and I said I need your help now! And then they said - you are going to have to call 911, and I'm thinking by the time I call 911 it's going to be too late," Wilson recalled
Zamari had drowned and it took first responders more than three hours to locate his body.
Brenda called it a preventable tragedy and believes that Zamari would still be alive if the hotel had been required to keep a lifeguard on duty.
"Morally in your heart, there should be a law that if something happens to my guest, I need to be able to rescue them," Wilson said. "But there is just nothing in the books."
Lifeguards are required to be on Virginia Beach's Oceanfront, but it is not mandated for any private properties like a hotel.
Brenda said more than one life could have been spared that day if there had been, as another man drowned in the same spot just hours later.
"Both our families are fighting for justice, and we believe that there should be lifeguards at all beaches!"
Wilson said she will continue to work with her attorneys to make this dream into law and will urge families to be water-aware when they go to the Oceanfront.