Jacksonville family honors Rakim Akbari with second annual walk, pushes for retention pond fencing

A Jacksonville family is turning heartbreak into action. Friends and family gathered at Friendship Fountain for the second annual Swim for Rakim Walk, honoring a 3-year-old boy who drowned in a retention pond while on vacation in July 2024.Rakim Akbari, who had autism, wandered away from a resort in Orlando and into a retention pond according to deputies. His aunts remembered the little boy with warmth and grief in equal measure.“He was always energetic. He’s full of energy, always having us on our toes because he was always trying to climb any and everything,” said Stephanie Rodall, Rakim’s aunt.“I miss his smile. I miss his laughter. I just miss him,” said Lechelle Rodall, another aunt of Rakim.For the past two years, Rakim’s mother, Tarina Akbari, has made her son’s death her life’s mission. She says the retention pond where Rakim drowned had no barriers and she believes a fence could have saved him.“We are more focused on pool drownings instead of retention pond drownings. The stat