“Over the course of the last year, our family has been no stranger to tragedy and how quickly life can change.”
Influencer Emilie Kiser apologized after her 16-month-old son was seen without a life jacket during a family boating trip in June. Kiser addressed the controversy in a video posted to social media on Friday, acknowledging that she and her husband, Brady Kiser, made a mistake by allowing their son Teddy to go without a life jacket.
“Over the course of the last year, our family has been no stranger to tragedy and how quickly life can change,” Kiser said. “We lost our son Trigg a little over a year ago to a preventable drowning and we will forever and always take accountability for the ways that we went wrong and the things that we didn’t do.”
“Recently we had our son out of a life jacket for moments on a boat. I understand this conversation. I think it is important. It holds people accountable,” she continued. “I know we made a mistake and that I will do nothing but my best to be the best parent I can be moving forward.”
Kiser explained that Teddy had become “fussy” while on the boat, prompting the couple to remove the jacket.
“We decided to take a few moments to calm him down and we see now that that was a mistake and that there is no reason ever why a child should be out of a life jacket,” Kiser said.
The photo of Teddy sitting on his father’s lap without a life jacket went viral in the wake of the death of the couple’s older child. Kiser and Brady lost their 3-year-old son, Trigg, in a drowning accident in their Arizona home in May of 2025. Trigg drowned in the couple’s family pool after being unattended while Brady was watching a basketball game he had a $25 bet on.
Kiser had been speaking out after the death about water safety and drowning preparedness, which drew more attention to the photo of their child without a life vest, according to a report by TMZ. Kiser had also announced last month that she is pregnant with another child.
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