GRAND LEDGE, Mich. (WLNS) — The news about the death of 2-year-old Jermain Jones hit home for one Grand Ledge woman. Her young son died in the family pool nearly 21 years ago.
Jones was reported missing Monday, and his body was recovered from the Looking Glass River.
Angela and Darren Wear say they know too well the tragedy of a lost child. They say their lives were turned upside down on Oct. 20, 2002, when their 1-year-old son Zac Mitchell died at their home.
“You never get over outliving your child,” says Angela. “At that time, we lived in a different house in Grand Ledge, and he drowned in our pool. There was a babysitter there who was also a family member, which I noticed with them, which brought it closer to my heart.”
Wear said she hoped there would be a different outcome for young Jermain and now she too is mourning this loss with his family.
“It’s unexplainable the grief that you go through and the shock. It’s one of those things that you think only happens to somebody else,” she said.
Since losing Zac, Wear says that she and her family have looked to a higher power to cope. “I believe that Zac is in heaven, and I believe their son is in heaven and that we’ll see them again,” she says.
This mother, who has been grieving for 20 years, says she wants the family of young Jermain Jones to know that they are not alone. “I’m very sorry, very very sorry. I know what pain you are going through but you’re going to survive. You’re going to be able to look back and not know how but there will be people that are going to help you through, and I am here for you.”
