Las Vegas Facebook groups donate 335 life jackets to Lake Mead

The administrators of two Las Vegas Facebook groups donated more than 300 life jackets to Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Wednesday in honor of a 6-year-old girl who drowned there in May.

Dusty Feazell and Guy Cohen, the admins of Las Vegas Fishing Club and Lake Mead Family Boaters Uncensored, respectively, announced on their pages May 4 that they would be raising money to remember Stacey Mock.

Stacey was pronounced dead May 1 after Metropolitan Police Department divers recovered her body from the lake. The Nevada Department of Wildlife said she had been sharing a pool float with another child when high winds blew them from shore, causing them to drift out to deeper water. Game wardens were able to rescue the second child.

National Weather Service meteorologist John Adair said wind gusts were up to 30 mph that day.

“I just want to say thank you so much from me and my family and friends,” Mock’s mother, Ashley Mock, said Wednesday. “I really appreciate that y’all see the bigger picture. I just want to thank you for everything.”

Ashley Mock walked into the Boulder Beach Ranger Station Wednesday afternoon to see 335 life jackets filling nearly an entire wall. Some piles of red, blue and yellow life jackets were so high they were falling over and spilling onto the floor. Mock’s sister, Victoria Mock-Crockhom, hugged every person in the room, including park rangers, Feazell, Cohen and their families.

“Watching the little girl die really affected us,” Cohen said. “We want to raise awareness that every kid needs to wear a life jacket in the water.”

While Cohen spoke, two large floats bounced in the water a few yards from shore. Cohen pointed to them, saying they make him very concerned.

“With the power of the winds out here and the way the waves change, it’s crucial to make sure you’re always thinking about Mother Nature,” Feazell said. “She changes quickly.”

Both Feazell and Cohen said that even if their sons were strong swimmers, they would still require them to wear life jackets while on the water.

Greg Hauburger, a spokesman for Lake Mead, said about 90,000 visitors are expected this weekend, which makes the donation of life jackets a great benefit to the beaches’ depleting supply.

“We have drownings each and every year here,” Hauburger said. “We’re super excited that some of our community groups are making a donation through Get Outdoors Nevada to help keep people safe.”

The life jackets were donated from the $5,400 Feazell and Cohen raised. The men turned to Marine Center of Las Vegas to purchase the products and then said they worked with Get Outdoors Nevada to donate them to the lake.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.