ROBSTOWN, Tx — Some may remember 19-year-old Christopher Ruiz, the Robstown teen who drowned in Lake Corpus Christi in June, since then Ruiz’s family has done their best to honor his memory and strive to make an impact through the Christopher Ruiz Foundation.
Since his death, Ruiz’s mom, Michelle Ruiz has established the Christopher Ruiz Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to bring awareness to boat and water safety not only in the Coastal Bend, but across the whole state.
Michelle said their mission is to start having life jackets available for families visiting Lake Corpus Christi.
Michelle added she already applied to different life jacket loaner programs, but it would take some time before she heard back from those programs.
As the warmer season approaches such as Spring Break, Michelle said she needs something done soon so the foundation is collecting donations to have these life jacket racks available for the public as quickly as possible.
Michelle said in Texas the law states only kids under 13 need to wear a jacket on a boat, but she believes everyone should be required to wear a life jacket if the boat is moving.
"While these boats are moving, it's a dangerous time, it's just like a car, the cars move and we wear seat belts all the time we didn’t like it in the beginning we fought it but now it's a habit," Michelle said. "So on these boats, you are driving around these boats and it gets wet and slippery what’s a chance of somebody not falling out of a boat again."
Michelle said she has spoken to state leaders to hopefully soon try to make a state law where life jackets would be mandatory to wear while certain boats are in motion.
To learn more about the foundation click here.
Other related stories:
