I’m raising awareness about child drowning deaths — but critics call me sick
This guy’s drowning in a deluge of digital disgust.
“What the hell?!” and “You’re sick” are some of the tamer rebukes flooding the social media comments of wannabe actor Lewis Saunderson after he virally shared disturbing footage of what appeared to be an unchaperoned toddler drowning in a kiddie pool.
“Never leave a child unattended in a pool,” wrote Saunderson, 39, from the UK, in the caption to his trending TikTok shocker, in which he abjectly sobs while cradling the limp body of a small boy.
The kid had ostensibly died after being submerged in several shallow inches of water.
“It only takes 30 seconds for a child to drown,” cautioned the aspiring artiste in the caption of the chaotic clip that’s amassed over 43.2 million views.
“Don’t leave your children unattended in the paddling pool this summer,” continued Saunderson, adding that the post was an “awareness video for all parents,” and stamping the visuals with hashtags like “#Acting,” “#AwarenessMatters” and “#Fiction.”
His disclaimers notwithstanding, outraged spectators were, in fact, incensed by the dismaying display.
“This is next level unhinged man,” said a perturbed commenter.
“That’s actually some sickness you have to make this video,” spat another.
“For god’s sake stop doing this s – – t,” an equally unsettled audience member chimed.
“He should be in jail for life,” another added.
For the cloudburst of criticism, a seemingly contrite Saunderson — who’s previously created online buzz for clips in which he pretends to find his dead daughter’s remains, or grieves the sudden loss of his soulmate — shared a subsequent snippet explaining the altruistic intent behind his skit.
“My channel is about awareness videos,” he says. “It’s nothing different that what you see in a TV drama or in a [soap opera].”
Saunderson goes on to reveal that the tot portraying his drowned son is actually his nephew, who wasn’t even aware that he’d be feigning death for virtual clout.
“My nephew — from his point of view, it was play. He didn’t know what I was doing,” Saunderson insisted, revealing that he added in audio of his bone-chilling scream during a post-production edit.
“For [my nephew],” said Saunderson, “he was just having a cuddle with his uncle.”
Beyond the grim nature of his video, Saunderson’s pool safety tip to moms and dads resembles that of a pool instructor who advised folks against dressing their little ones in blue bathing suits this summer, owing to the camouflage effect the garb can have in the water.
Despite the steady of flow of hate raining on Sanderson’s viral parade, he claimed the controversial clip has made positive waves with diehard supporters of his outré artistry.
“There are a lot of people to reach out to me every single day on my TikTok, and tell me how inspired they are by my content,” he said.
“And if that video can help save one life, then I’ve done my job.”
