Ariadne Massa
Parents tell of fearless, confident boy who lost his life in pontoon dive
The young action man... James Borg (front) playing with the San Ġwann Football Club a couple of years ago.
Albert Borg manages a smile as he browses through the digital photos of his son James fooling around with his friends, pulling faces at the camera or posing with a look of teenage angst.
He lingers on the one where James, 14, looks directly at the camera, a hat pulled over his carefully styled fringe: "This was taken minutes before his fatal dive".
Just four days after tragically losing their son, Mr Borg and his wife Diane are appealing to youngsters to think twice before diving off pontoons they are not familiar with.
What happened to their son could have happened to anybody. James was with his clique of friends from San Ġwann at Għadira Bay on Tuesday night. They had booked a minivan at 8.30 p.m. and were looking forward to spending the night on the beach.
Always keen on his image, James had asked his mother to replace his sandals and that day he was anxiously awaiting her return so he could sport his new ones on the beach.
"He was thrilled I managed to get him the exact same pair to replace his old ones - he twirled me around and hugged me. He was a very appreciative boy," Mrs Borg said, her grey-green eyes glazing over with a film of tears. Always full of beans, he went to pounce on his father, who was taking a nap before his night shift distributing newspapers for Millers Distributors, before he left.
"He was a fearless, confident boy, always up for a challenge or adventure. Before he left I repeated the usual words of caution: 'Take care of yourself and don't try to impress'," Mr Borg said, unconsciously running his fingers over the brass cross that had been attached to his son's coffin.
Assuring his dad that he need not worry, James grabbed his bag and food container packed with coleslaw and potatoes, which his mother had prepared, and walked out the door to join his friends.
"At about 11.45 p.m. he called to say how much he had enjoyed the food and that he was having fun," Mrs Borg said, rubbing her swollen eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, her mobile rang again, signalling that James was calling. Instead, there was a girl at the other end of the line rambling on how James had gone for a swim, there had been an accident and he was foaming at the mouth.
Mrs Borg immediately called her husband, who dropped what he was doing, went to pick her up and dashed to Mater Dei Hospital.
"I immediately expected the worst. When the ambulance arrived, I sensed things were not right," Mr Borg added.
His friends told James's parents how they had not been planning to swim that night, but James felt hot and, taking off his T-shirt, he sprinted onto a nearby pontoon and dived into the sea.
At one point his friends saw his head bob up and go back down. Initially, they assumed he was joking, but when he didn't resurface, his friends jumped in and dragged him ashore.
Attempts to resuscitate him failed. His friends think James probably hit his head against the sand. An autopsy later confirmed that the boy had indeed hit his head, suffering a concussion and drowning.
"He was not familiar with the pontoon and I worry about other children experiencing a similar fate," his mother said.
The silence that has settled on the Borg family is disturbed when Luke, nine, excitedly calls his father to tell him he's chatting with James's friends online.
His father gets up and joins Luke in James's bedroom, which had not yet made the transition from boy to teenager. His duvet and curtains portray his hero, Action Man, while a collection of car models, presents from his father, line his shelves.
James was also a huge fan of Ronaldinho, and he was an eager football player with the San Ġwann Football Club; even though recently he was spending more time experimenting with different hairstyles.
"Recently, he told me he wanted to join Mcast to follow a hairdressing course," his father said, in a wistful voice as he went through the photos where the colour of his son's hair kept changing.
"If I had the courage to speak out during the funeral Mass my only words to young people would be: It's true you want to have fun and experiment in life, but listen to what your parents tell you - it's for your own good."
The family want to thank the Mater Dei Hospital staff, Miller Distributors, Media Link Communications, Union Press, the San Ġwann Football Club, and James's friends for all their help and solidarity.
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Ian Sammut Dacoutros
Aug 18th 2008, 18:48
@ Mr. Charles Sammut
Whilst I agree with the concept if retribution for gross negligence, cannot disagree less with the concept of law suits. What is needed is a change in the 'mhux xorta' mentality.
@All
Please keep in mind with the blogs relating to stories of this nature that right as you are writing your blog there is a family literally devastated.
No I don’t know how it feels to loose a child as I have never lost a child in a tragedy - I don’t even have children, I can just begin to imagine though. Someone having the gall to say that it is the fault of the family is a shame, trying to contain the energy of a 14 yo is enough - of course he is going to have BBQ's and nights with friends etc... and the last thing that he would want is adults there! What is needed is a bit of foresight to avoid these things happening in the first place rather than blame slinging!!
My thoughts and prayers are with the family at this most difficult of moments. RIP James
Charles Sammut
Aug 18th 2008, 15:21
Att Mr Xuereb.. To sue you have to have a good case.. When there is negligence that results in someone getting maimed,seriously hurt or dead someone ought to be held accountable. I am not familiar first hand with the Ghadira tragedy but if someone built a pontoon in shallow waters I would say it is too tempting for kids to avoid. How this translates into frivolous law-suits beats the hell out of me.
André Xuereb
Aug 18th 2008, 14:41
Charles Sammut: If you are familiar with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of novels, you would know how ridiculous the concept of suing everyone for everything is to the rest of the world.
M Muscat: Kids have a right to enjoy themselves without adults present ... I used to do it and (probably) even you used to do it. Just because accidents happen does not mean that we have to put children in plastic bubbles.
Charles Sammut
Aug 18th 2008, 14:17
It is indeed a tragedy when a young lad loses his life so unnessarily. I have to tell the readers that if this were the USA the owners of that pontoon would right now be facing with manslaughter charges. Having what is known as an "attractive nuisance" is too tempting for kids and there is no way one should erect a pontoon where the water is too shallow. I am aware that "Tort Law" in Malta is not on the same level as in the USA where the parents right now would be suing and the sky would be the limit to what a Jury would award them. Of course it is water under the bridge now but other pontoon owners would certainly take notice and made sure that unsafe conditions would be taken down.
Chris Grillo
Aug 18th 2008, 13:25
So sorry for this loss. I could not blame the pontoon owners however. A quick glance at Ghadira bay shows clearly that it is extremely shallow. Even my 9 year old daughter knows this, as she has remarked often. I think that at that time there should have been adult supervision with them, but alas, what would it take for a child to escape the beady eyes of his supervisors and take a jump? How many times have we said 'Zgiccali minn taht ghajnejja?'
Ultimately it was pure bad luck, and I commiserate with the Borg family. Such a devastating loss to them and of course to his friends. He seemed such a nice lad.
My heart goes out to you in this time of sorrow Mr. and Mrs. Borg.
Malcolm Tortell
Aug 18th 2008, 12:31
@ M. Muscat
It was an accident and does not in any way mean that the parents were responsible. They could have been sitting right there and it would still have happened. It was an accident...get it?
Schembri Ray
Aug 18th 2008, 10:52
Condolences for the Borg family.
When I was a youth we organised big BBQs. It was not the first that we had a swim afterwards. We were very familiar with the beach. You can't point out the dangers that a youth can encounter. As a youth you have to be careful what you do, but you can't elimate the dangers around us. You could get hurt with everything you touch. A message to the youths is this - Enjoy life as much as you can; be alert with the dangers around and try to avoid as much possible. You have one precious life to live. Take care of it. It's priceless!!!
Pamela Hansen
Aug 18th 2008, 10:19
I do not believe the insensitivity of some people. The accident could have happened in broad daylight with James' parents present. It happened because there was no warning notice saying
"Danger, no diving".
M Muscat
Aug 18th 2008, 09:39
First of all condolences to the parents. Lets pray for them all.
But who was responsible for the children during that night? Were there any responsible adults present? It is easy to point fingers at who set up the pontoon, but what about sending off a child on his own for the whole night?
Carmen Engwall
Aug 17th 2008, 02:54
I have two boys myself and can't imagine losing one of them. God knows what the parents must be going through. The advice expressed by the father is right on. In addition some sort of curfew for youngsters might be a good idea. In various places in the US there are curfews for under 16's- they cannot be out and about after 10pm. If they are they are looking for trouble- either knowingly or unknowingly. With regards to the pantoon, there definitely should be have been a sign but if it is pitch dark even a sign wouldn't have done much good.
dbugeja
Aug 16th 2008, 16:44
Mr and Mrs Borg
My deepest condolences. I have 2 boys the same age as James so I know what you must be going through. We want them to have fun but yet we worry about what danger they might encounter through their life.
May God be with you. I am sure James is in heaven.
William Attard McCarthy
Aug 16th 2008, 13:47
My heart flies out to the parents of this young unfortunate kid.
Who was responsible for the setting up of that pontoon? Whoever it is must be held responsible for not erecting a "Caution: Shallow Water" sign at the end of it, as is normal practice in such situations.