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Mother of local teen asks Pembroke Pines to host Aiden Perry life rings by waterways
Summary
Sarah Perry urged the City Commission to accept 10 complimentary life rings from her nonprofit and asked staff to study how to place the rings by local waterways. Mayor Castillo directed the city manager and fire chief to meet with Perry for a recommendation.
Sarah Perry, the mother of Aiden Spencer Perry, asked the Pembroke Pines City Commission on April 2 to let her install Aiden Perry Hero life rings at city waterways and offered the first 10 rings free through her foundation.
Perry told commissioners she created the Aiden Perry Hero Life Ring Initiative after her son died trying to save a motorist from a car that went into a lake. "By having one of our life rings available, the next time there's a water emergency, a good Samaritan like my son won't have to lose their life," Perry said. She described the program's message as "throw, don't go" and said nearly 500 rings have been installed in other Florida counties and on some university campuses.
The presentation mattered because commissioners said the rings could be a low-cost, ready-to-use safety measure at local parks and ponds. Mayor Angelo Castillo asked staff to bring the idea to the fire chief for evaluation. "Without objection, Mr. Dodge, I would very much like for Mrs. Perry to meet with our fire chief and his staff to go over her program so that he could bring us a recommendation on how best to move forward with it," Castillo said.
Commissioner Rodriguez suggested also involving the South Broward Drainage District because the district manages many waterways inside the city. "Maybe include the South Broward Drainage District Executive Director… because the South Broward Drainage District manages and owns much of the waterways within our city," Rodriguez said, urging staff to loop the district into the review.
City staff did not make a formal commitment to install rings that evening. The next concrete step recorded on the transcript was the mayor's direction that Perry meet with the fire chief and staff so the chief could return to the commission with a recommendation.
Evidence of the presentation appears in the meeting transcript beginning with Perry's remarks introducing the initiative and ending with Mayor Castillo's instruction to meet with the fire chief. The commission did not vote on funding or placement at the April 2 meeting; the topic was set for staff review and a future recommendation.
