Kochers Receive National Life Saving Award

TINLEY PARK, IL - A Tinley Park couple has received a national award for water safety less than four years after tragically losing their only child to a rip current off the shore of a Michigan beach. John and Kathy Kocher are the recipients of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance Lifesaver of the Year Award for their water safety advocacy.

“John and Kathy have been a true inspiration in the face of tragedy of losing Matthew,” said Dave Benjamin, executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project organization. The National Drowning Prevention Alliance organization that announced the award last week.

“They have been unstoppable in their efforts to educate others to prevent drownings," Benjamin added.

The Kochers have made water safety a priority since the death of their son on July 27, 2013. Since then, they have sponsored more than 170 school presentations in Illinois alone and have awarded more than $50,000 in scholarships to excellent students through the Matthew Kocher Foundation.

RELATED: In Memory of Matt Kocher

This year, the foundation will sponsor 32 school presentations and will be part of the Great Lakes Water Safety presentation from May 8 to May 12.

Matthew Kocher was with a summer group when they took a day trip to a beach in New Buffalo, Michigan on July 27, 2013 when he became entangled in a rip current and drowned. His parents described their heartbreaking story at the “Because I said I would” conference in Columbus in 2014.

ALSO ON PATCH: Playground to be Renamed in Honor of Matt Kocher

Photo via Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project