‘Remove these enclosures’: Sister of drowning victim Jake Brown in appeal to council

The devastated sister of a man who drowned at a Gold Coast swimming enclosure popular with young families is speaking out. Read what she said.

Gold Coaster Jake Brown tragically died at the Paradise Point parklands swimming enclosure. Picture: via GoFundMe

The sister of a man who drowned at a Paradise Point swimming enclosure has taken aim at council over his tragic death.

Jake Brown, 29, failed to resurface after falling from the edge of nets at the enclosure on Sunday December 8.

His body was found a number of hours later after a search by emergency services.

The search effort was extensive at Paradise Point Parklands on the Gold Coast. Picture: Kathleen Skene

Sister Kayla Brown, who has launched a GoFundMe appeal to raise money for a memorial service, described it as a “freak accident” but claimed he had become entangled in the nets.

“On Sunday the eighth of December my brother had a freak accident,” Ms Brown said.

“Swimming in the Broadwater with his friends turned into an extensive search to find Jake’s body.

“Jake was swimming inside of what was meant to be a safe swimming enclosure for families and children and it cost him his life.

“Sitting on the white inflatable edge of the net he fell backwards and the current pulled Jake under the water and pushed him against the shark/jellyfish nets causing him to become tangled in the large holes of the nets which result in him failing to resurface,” she claimed.

The devastated friend of Jake Brown after he did not resurface. Picture: Kathleen Skene

Ms Brown is calling on council to remove similar swimming enclosures from beaches across the Gold Coast.

“Many people tried to save him but could not dive down as deep as Jake was,” she said.

“I hope they remove every one of these swimming enclosures along the Gold Coast before it happens to another family.”

A Gold Coast City council spokesperson said their thoughts are with the family after the “tragic incident”.

“The City replaces the swimming enclosure nets annually and performs inspections on them every three months to ensure they are safe and in good condition,” they said.

“The net was fully replaced on 22 August 2024 and an inspection on the net to confirm it was safe was performed in November.

“The City will continue to take any action necessary to ensure safety at the swimming enclosure.”

Mayor Tom Tate last week expressed his condolences to Mr Brown’s family and said the City was considering whether lifeguards should be stationed at the enclosure, which had been closed since the incident.

“I’ll get the CEO to review it,” he said. “We’ve expanded our lifeguards to the north at The Spit because people walk along there to get hot and go in (the water).

“We’ll do some demographic studies to see the usage and the suitability so the CEO will review that.”

The Paradise Point Parklands swimming enclosure has been closed since the incident. Picture: Tahlia Leathart

Police are investigating the cause of Mr Brown’s death, with a report being prepared for the coroner.

At time of writing $13,560 of a $22,000 target had been raised by the GoFundMe appeal launched by Ms Brown for her brother, who said his family had endured one of the “darkest times” of their lives.

“I am raising money to be able to hold a memorial service for Jake as all our family could provide was an unattended cremation and my brother deserves so much more than that,” she said.

“Thank you all for helping my family through one of the darkest times in our lives. Even if you can’t donate please share!”

To donate to the fund, click here.