'It's Quiet Here Without Him:' Family Mourns Toddler Son Who Drowned

OAK FOREST, IL — An Oak Forest family is left with regret and broken hearts, after their toddler drowned while on a family trip a week ago. Alan Wedgbury and his partner Laura Gronsky are grappling with the loss of their son Jack, who was just three months shy of turning 3.

"We just miss him, everybody misses him so much," Wedgbury said. "It’s quiet here without him."

Wedgbury and his family were visiting the family's lake house in Monticello, Indiana when the accident happened. The adults were preparing the property for winter, and all were collectively keeping one eye on the toddler, when they realized he was missing. Panic set in.

"I ran around looking for him," Wedgbury said. "I jumped in the lake, I found him, pulled him out. I started CPR. We went to the hospital, they continued CPR as long as they could."

"It felt like a lifetime," Wedgbury said, of the time he spent performing CPR, "maybe it was just a few minutes, I would imagine."

Jack loved the water and with guidance from his parents and big sister had been learning to swim in that same lake, Wedgbury said. The appeal of the water was strong, he said.

"It may have been part of the allure, that he thought he could go in without me there," Wedgbury said. "I was battling him all day to stay away from the dock."

He had not been wearing a life jacket as he played in the area, Wedgbury said—something that sticks with him now as a deep regret.

"The thought went through my head to put a life jacket on him, but it was a fall day, it was cool, he had his fall jacket on," Wedgbury said. "No matter if they like it or not, put the life jacket on them. I should have just made him wear the life jacket, whether he hated me or not."

The tragic accident has shaken the family of now four to its core. Jack William Wedgbury was one of three children, and the couple's first together. He had an older half-sister Alice, 9, and a younger sister Finley, just over 1 year old.

"Our Jack was so perfect from the beginning, blonde hair, porcelain skin, blue eyes," said his mother Laura Gronsky. "He loved the water. We couldn’t keep him away from it. Even if it was just a puddle, he would find it and stomp in it, until it was gone.

"He always wanted to be outside, and then whenever you got him outside, he wanted to be able to go inside and outside. He kept us on our toes, that's for sure."

Funeral services for Jack have already been held, but the family is taking time to grieve and remember him.

"I could go on forever, probably," Wedgbury said. "He was perfect in every way. He was just a normal, beautiful baby boy. He loved his sandbox, he demanded to be outside every morning, no matter what the weather. He’d stand in front of our screen door in the winter, acted like he couldn’t feel the cold at all. He just wanted to be outside all the time."

He loved music, and his first request upon waking were YouTube videos and a dance session, Wedgbury said. He loved his sandbox, and Hot Wheels. He loved the water and being outside. He adored his sisters.

"He was just your normal, perfect little boy," Wedgbury said.

"Alice loved him, she would drive him around the yard in her big giant princess carriage PowerWheels," Wedgbury said. "He never tried to drive, he wanted her to drive. She loved him very much."

The oldest child, Alice was from her mother's previous relationship, Wedgbury said, and her relationship with her siblings is special.

"Alice probably never thought she’d have a brother until I came around," he said. "She really became a big sister, she got a little brother and a sister."

Gronsky said Jack loved his older sister dearly.

"He idolized his big sister," Gronsky said. "Everything she did, he wanted to do. He was just our perfect baby boy. We love him so much."

Alan and Laura's love story was a whirlwind, he said, their connection enhanced by the family they would nurture.

"We fell in love pretty quick, had Jack really quick," he said. "I’ve been through some tragedy, got back on my feet, got my house."

Wedgbury's father took his own life in 2014, and the grief was deep to navigate. He had found his stride again shortly before meeting Gronsky, but getting to that point was a struggle.

Now the family faces a grief unlike any they've known.

"It's been a nightmare," Wedgbury said.

Friends of the family have started a GoFundMe on their behalf.

"The hope is to take one less burden off this family and give them the opportunity to grieve and heal from such an unimaginable loss," the organizer wrote. "Maybe that’s a trip together in memory of Jack, maybe that’s staying home together till they are ready to face the world again. Their world will never be the same, but together we can try to make it easier for them to cope without the financial burden."

Wedgbury is hoping to be able to take some time away from work, to stay close to home and be with his family as they grieve, and find a new sense of normalcy. Jack's energy absent from their home is profound.

"Even though his little sister’s 1," Wedgbury said, laughing softly, "she’s not filling the chaos that he provided for us."

Gronsky said she wouldn't wish the pain in her family is in on anyone.

"I've been telling everybody, just hold your babies, keep them safe, make sure they have a life jacket at all cost," she said. "Strap it to their arm so they can carry it. This should have never happened.

"Everybody just needs to hold their babies because nobody should ever feel like this."

The family now has to find a way to keep moving through their days and being there for their other children, something the parents find heavy and challenging as they face their grief.

"We don’t just get to just stop, we don't just get to stay in bed," Gronsky said. "We gotta be here for our other babies."

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