A new life-saving device now sits at Pewaukee Lake following two drownings there last year, including the death of 17-year-old Messiah Beamon-Perry.
WATCH: Teen's drowning leads to life-saving equipment at Pewaukee Lake
The Hamilton High School senior drowned during a midnight swim with friends last summer. He had just returned from a college visit when he went to the lake with friends who planned to swim out to a buoy. Police say Messiah jumped off the pier with his friends, but he couldn't swim. At the time, there was no rescue equipment on the lake to help a struggling swimmer.
"He was just everything to everybody," said Alexis Beamon, Messiah's mother.
After the tragedy, the Village of Pewaukee Police and their community partners decided to install a life ring cabinet at the lake.
"The life ring inside easily deployable for someone who would come upon an emergency while police are in route or the fire department is en route. They can start the process of trying to save somebody," said Detective Craig Drummy with the Pewaukee Police Department.
Beamon said her son was always the first to try to help others, constantly caring for his little brothers and sisters. She knows he would want part of his legacy to be something that could save others.
"I know that he would want this. He would want this," Beamon said. "I don't want anybody to feel this way. I wake up everyday and I'm like I can't believe my baby is not here."
The life ring is mobile and moveable. Depending on the weather, the police department says they will move it along the lake front to where it will make the biggest difference in saving a life.
"It makes me feel bittersweet. I feel sad, but when I think about it being there it is something that happened because of him," Beamon said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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