Nikki Drake felt an overwhelming sense of relief when police told her that they had found her son’s body. It was March 21, 2013, and 23-year-old Chris had been missing for five gut-wrenching days, after he was knocked unconscious and swept out to sea while rescuing two fellow swimmers at North Curl Curl rock pool.
“On the fourth day of the search, the police warned us they’d need to start winding back the operation because the chances of recovering him were slim, and the danger to emergency services people was high,” Nikki tells Woman’s Day.
“The thought of Chris not being returned to us was just unbearable. So, we were just so happy that they found him, and so grateful to the searchers for their efforts.”
AGONISING WAIT
Those long, agonising days waiting for any skerrick of news about their precious boy, a law student and competent surfer, inspired Nikki and her husband Trevor to take action. In honour of Chris, and in the hope of preventing another parent enduring the same grief, they set up a foundation, Smile Like Drake, and began designing a life-saving bracelet and a wearable app that could not only locate a swimmer in trouble but immediately detect the first sign they were becoming distressed.
It’s taken a decade of patience, persistence and constant refinement, working with a team of engineers at Macquarie University, but now Nikki and Trevor’s wearable device, AppTrakk, is ready to go into production – and hopefully save lives.
LAST MOMENTS
“We needed to be distracted, to do something positive to honour Chris. What happened was preventable, we couldn’t sit at home, we had to do something tangible to make a difference,” explains Nikki.
On the morning of March 16, 2013, Nikki and Trevor were enjoying a training session with Chris, a fit and familiar face around Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Little did they imagine that those would be their last moments together.
Despite a rigorous workout, and the fact he’d already been for a surf that morning, Chris was full of energy and invited his parents back to the beach for a swim. They declined, joking that he’d worn them out, and went home.
Chris and some friends were swimming in the rock pool at North Curl Curl when conditions dramatically changed. Chris went to assist two young women who had been washed into the pool when he was thrown by a rogue wave and knocked unconscious. Nikki will never forget the phone call informing them that Chris was missing, after which, in a state of shock and disbelief, they rushed to the beach to assist with the search.
“We sat on a rock holding one another, looking out to the ocean, mentally willing our incredible son to hang on. Around 9pm we broke down, knowing Chris was out there somewhere in the blackness
of night,” she recalls.
Their AppTrakk bracelet and App has come at the right time. Royal Lifesaving Australia reports the national summer drowning toll is already at 30. There have been at least five drownings across Australian beaches since New Year’s Eve at the time of going to press.
GREATEST GIFT
Nikki began researching technology that could be worn on a swimmer’s body, such as a bracelet, to help alert rescue services if something was wrong and locate a swimmer in distress. Armed with wads of data and a wishlist of features they wanted, she approached Macquarie University’s engineering and robotics department, who began working with them to develop the wearable tech.
“If Chris had been wearing something like this, we wouldn’t have had to wait five days to find him,” says Nikki. “It might not have changed the outcome but it may have allowed us to hold him, say goodbye, and donate his organs.
“He was the most beautiful human on earth, healthy, vibrant, knowing his heart could’ve helped someone else would’ve been the greatest gift, but that couldn’t happen.”
With the bracelet prototype now signed off, they are hoping to secure funding and support from the community, state and federal government to move into production.
“We want this available by next summer. Everything is done – we just need support to get it out to market and get it on swimmers’ arms.
“It’s a gift from our family to parents around the world. The AppTrakk allows us to carry Chris’ memory on and pay it forward. We don’t want another family to go through what we’ve been through.”
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