CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — The Je'Sani Smith Foundations annual Scholarship Award Reception was held on Friday evening at the Omni Hotel and they made a significant announcement.
Using virtual reality, they can now further their mission to enhance awareness about the dangers of rip currents.
“It’s a little disorienting, but I'm sure getting stuck in a rip (current) is also disorienting itself too,” Alysa Cantu Benware said.
Cantu Benware is an occasional beachgoer, so she decided to put on the virtual reality headset. What she experienced was a simulation of getting caught in a rip current.
“It showed me when to signal for help. It showed how deep out you can go. Obviously, the main thing is don’t panic,” she said.
The Je’Sani Smith Foundation was created after 18-year-old Je’Sani Smith was caught in a rip current and died in 2019. Since then, the foundation has raised awareness about the danger of rip currents.
The VR Rescue Program starts out by getting you used to the environment by swimming. It shows you how to signal for help. Then you get caught in the current and put all your knowledge together.
“It tricks the brain. There are people that use this to get over fears and so this is one way to create the most realistic experience without putting someone in direct harm,” Denis Wisner, a volunteer helping with the virtual reality said.
“We become desensitized when it comes to signs and information. And so, if we can give people something that really creates that repetition or creates that muscle memory, then when they get out in the water they have an opportunity to survive,” Kiwana Denison, mother of Je'Sani, as well as founder and president of the foundation said.
The software was developed at Hofstra University. With the support for the Port of Corpus Christi, the Je’Sani Smith Foundation was able to bring it in as another tool to keep teaching people how to be aware on the beach.
“I feel like it could be very beneficial from a very base knowledge perspective because of course most people I've known grew up with “swim parallel,” but that’s not 100% of it,” Cantu Benware said.
Another great accomplishment for the foundation, each year they gift students with a scholarship. This Friday was the most they’ve donated yet. 8 students were each presented with a $1,200 scholarship.
- Abigail Elise Aguirre, from Foy H. Moody High School, attending The University of Texas at Austin
- Alysa Cantu Benware, from Richard King High School, attending The University of Texas at Austin
- Jazmin Taylor Flores, from Tuloso-Midway High School, attending Texas A&M University
- Julianna Lu Garcia, from Tuloso-Midway High School, attending University of The Incarnate Word
- Marcus Garcia, from Veterans Memorial, attending The University of Houston
- Sarah Michelle Dupont, from Bishop High School, attending Texas A&M School of Public Health
- Cameron Cabrera, from Veterans Memorial, attending University of Texas at Arlington
- Victoria Cantu, from John Paul II High School, attending Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
