SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. — Lisa MacDonald misses her daughter and the boy she considered another son.
“The world lost two very incredible people that day,” said MacDonald.
Last August, Emily MacDonald, 19, and Kory Ernster, 22, drowned while on vacation with his family in South Haven.
READ MORE: Police identify 2 victims in South Haven drowning
“Emily and Kory went in and followed the beaches rules,” said MacDonald. “It was a Yellow Flag Day, that means go in with caution. They did and out of nowhere a current came and, and took them away.”
MacDonald says Lake Michigan took away a kind and accepting young man and her authentic, independent girl, who loved to travel and wanted to be a vet.
The couple had been dating for five years.
“They'd always talked about being together forever, being married one day,” said MacDonald. “He really was like, in pre-son-in-law mode with us. Just a wonderful kid and I couldn't ask for a better person for my daughter to end up with.”
About her daughter MacDonald added, “She really had an eye to capture the beauty of the little things and I love that about her, because with everything she's been through, she didn't let stop her.”
However, MacDonald wants her pain to serve a purpose.
Shortly after their deaths, the St. Clair County mother started a Facebook group which advocates for water safety.
“Emily and Cory would have made impacts on the world,” said MacDonald. “They both were very intelligent, and they're not here to do it, so I'm going to do something.”
It’s attracted more than 1,000 followers from all over the country.
Ideally, MacDonald wants officials in South Haven and other beach towns to take notice of the page and hire lifeguards, improve signage, and add more flags.
READ MORE: City of South Haven launches latest effort to keep beachgoers safe this summer
She calls the recent creation of a beach safety team by the city a good step, but believes families deserve professional enforcement.
“There shouldn't be a need for volunteers from the city, who already pay taxes, to go out there on their own time without pay, to protect the people that the city is benefiting from,” said MacDonald. “I am so happy that the citizens are standing up and doing what's right, but again, by the time they call 911 it may or may not be too late.”
At the very least, MacDonald hopes people think twice when they enter the water this beach season, so they never feel the losses she has in the months after her family’s tragedy.
“Yes, there is a cost [to hiring lifeguards], but that cost is minimal when you think of the cost that it costs a drowning person's family, the rescuer, the first responders, you know, whatever,” said MacDonald.
