She was the silly one, outgoing and endlessly curious.
He was soft-spoken, an introvert who loved video games, science, nature and, above all, his little sister.
Kayden Grant鈥檚 devotion to family never wavered 鈥 until July 31, when a heroic attempt to save his drowning sister Joyclyn ended with both siblings dead and their loved ones reeling.
鈥淲e look at Kayden as a hero in our family,鈥 Heather Dodds said of her stepson, who had just finished Grade 9 at Bernie Custis Secondary School.
鈥淗e loved his little sister and wasn鈥檛 willing to let her go.鈥
The family moved from Hamilton to Dryden 鈥 roughly halfway between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg 鈥 about a month ago.
Along with some cousins, Kayden, 15, and Joyclyn, 12, were exploring their new neighbourhood on July 31 when they ventured down to a park that bordered the Wabigoon River.
Joyclyn got curious.
Joyclyn Grant, 12, and Kayden Grant, 15, died in a drowning incident in Dryden on July 31.
Courtesy of Heather Dodds鈥淪he went down to the side of the riverbank and fell in,鈥 said Dodds, adding the weight of her stepdaughter鈥檚 clothes 鈥 a full-body tracksuit 鈥 pulled her downstream. 鈥淲hen she went under, her older brother jumped in to save her.鈥
Neither kid knew how to swim, according to Dodds.
As they slipped under rushing, ice-cold water, Dodds was just down the road, in the car and driving to Walmart with her other son.
鈥淚 got a call from my aunt,鈥 she said, noting one of the kids鈥 cousins had called family and police to report the emergency, 鈥渟aying come down because Joyclyn was in the water.鈥
By the time she arrived, it was too late.
鈥淏oth of them were under water and I couldn鈥檛 see anything. I jumped in up to my chest 鈥 the water was really cold 鈥 and when I got three feet away from the riverbank, it dropped down to where I couldn鈥檛 stand anymore.鈥
Dodds said rescue crews and first responders recovered the siblings within minutes.
鈥淭hey worked so hard and we owe them everything for trying.鈥
The brother and sister are being remembered as 鈥渁mazing kids.鈥
Kayden Grant, 15, died on July 31 after jumping into a running river to save his drowning sister Joyclyn, despite not knowing how to swim himself.聽
Courtesy of Heather DoddsDodds said Joyclyn was the family鈥檚 only girl. She had a smile that would 鈥渓ight up any room,鈥 her stepmom said, and a penchant for cracking silly jokes. A recent graduate of Prince of Wales Elementary School, her favourite saying was, 鈥淥hana means family, and family never gets left behind.鈥
鈥淪he stole your heart from the minute you met her,鈥 Dodds said. 鈥淥ur world is darker without her bright light.鈥
Kayden, meanwhile, was 鈥渢he opposite,鈥 an introvert who kept to his interests 鈥 video games, science, dinosaurs, sharks, fossils 鈥 but valued loyalty, lasting friendships and, like his sister, family.
鈥淭hey balanced each other so well,鈥 Dodds said.
While shattered, Dodds said the family is focusing on their other two sons 鈥 the youngest of whom soon starts high school.
鈥淲e鈥檙e struggling with the loss and it鈥檚 very empty, but we鈥檙e focusing on our two boys that we still have.鈥
The family is also advocating for the province to make swimming lessons mandatory in elementary school curriculums.
Dodds wonders if Kayden and Joyclyn could be alive had they had basic swimming skills. When the family lived in Hamilton, in a home near Hamilton Stadium, she said swimming lessons were either too expensive or booked up.
Kayden Grant, 15, died on July 31 after jumping into a running river to save his drowning sister Joyclyn, despite not knowing how to swim himself.聽
Courtesy of Heather Dodds鈥淭he most they did in Hamilton was the shallow end of community pools. I looked into it and lessons were too expensive,鈥 she said, noting the kids had cheaper lessons scheduled in Dryden for the fall.
鈥淲e live in Ontario. We鈥檙e surrounded by water. Lessons should be mandatory for all school-aged children.鈥
Three kids from Hamilton have died this summer by drowning.
In addition to Kayden and Joyclyn, a 13-year-old local girl died July 20 after drowning at the Wildwood Conservation Area in St. Mary鈥檚, between Kitchener and London. Police said the teen was visiting the nature preserve with family and got lost in the water off a beach.
In a statement, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board said the drowning deaths of its students this summer 鈥渓eave a lasting mark on our school communities and bring unimaginable grief to their families.鈥
鈥淭he loss of a child is devastating, and we approach these moments with the utmost compassion and respect,鈥 said associate director Jamie Nunn.
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