Homewood Man Wins 'Lifesaver Of The Year' Award

HOMEWOOD, IL — Water safety activist Dave Benjamin, who lives in Homewood, has been awarded as the 2020 "Lifesaver of the Year" by the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. Benjamin is the co-founder and executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project and has been involved in drowning prevention since surviving a drowning incident in December 2010.

“It’s a great honor to receive this prestigious award,” Benjamin said. “I did not get involved in water safety to win any awards, but it is nice to be acknowledged for all of the hard work that we have done over the last ten years.”

He was nominated for the award by Melissa Zirkle, who lost her 13-year-old son, Jermaine, in a 2013 drowning incident on Lake Erie.

“Dave has spent the last ten years fighting tirelessly to help us keep children safe around the lakes,” Zirkle said. “I met Dave soon after Jermaine’s accident, and he has been one of the reasons why I’ve made it through the grief since Jermaine drowned.”

“Not only is he sympathetic, he is also determined to prevent drownings in the Great Lakes any way that he can. In the last six-and-a-half years of knowing Dave, he has shown me over and over what dedication is.”

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Benjamin was set to receive the award earlier this month at the alliance's National Water Safety Conference, but the conference was moved online due to shelter-in-place orders that came as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. His acceptance speech was recorded here.

Although the 2020 beach season has not yet arrived in the Midwest and the pandemic may mean a number of Great Lakes beaches close for the summer, Benjamin says he will continue his efforts to prevent drownings on Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

“Even with this pandemic, drowning will continue to be a neglected public health issue.”