Dad whose teen son drowned warns of dangers of open water after another young life lost

A dad whose teenage son drowned at a reservoir has warned of the dangers of open water after another young life was lost.

Sam Haycock, 16, died in Ulley Reservoir, Rotherham two years ago.

His father Simon now campaigns to raise the issue of water safety in schools and community groups.

He warned of the dangers after the death of Lewis Michael Kirkpatrick.

The 15-year-old drowned in the River Eden near his home in Carlisle, Cumbria.

He got into difficulty with three other boys on Friday evening.

A 14-year-old, who was airlifted to hospital, remains in a critical condition.

Mr Haycock said: “We’ll never get over losing Sam. But I use my grief to try to do something positive.”

He said his message was to stay away from reservoirs and rivers even in hot weather.

“They are not the place to be spending time, they’re certainly not the place to be going swimming,” he told the BBC.

“They’re dangerous, the water’s extremely cold even on a hot day. There’s hidden dangers underneath so you don’t know what you’re jumping into.”

There were also deaths in open water in Yorkshire last week.

The bodies of an 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old man were recovered by divers at High Eske Nature Reserve, near Tickton, on Wednesday, with four swimmers rescued.

A 16-year-old boy – named locally as Tyler Wilson – died in Castleford on Wednesday, with his body recovered from the River Calder.

John Gibson, a Canal & River Trust area operations manager, said: “We want people to enjoy being by the water and go home safely at the end of the day.

“We can end up with fatalities. It’s devastating for the families involved in this as well as my staff, volunteers and members of the public.”

Jonathan Henderson, of Humberside Fire and Rescue, warned of 300 accidental drownings throughout the UK each year.

“About 80 percent of those are men and a heavy percentage of those are young men,” he added.

“If you do find yourself in the water, lay on your back to float – but don’t go in the water in the first place.”

In relation to the death of Lewis, Cumbria Police said in a statement: “Police can confirm that a body located in the River Eden has been formally identified as Lewis Michael Kirkpatrick, aged 15, from Carlisle.

“Lewis’ body was found shortly after 1:30pm yesterday (27 May) following an extensive multi-agency search operation.

“The search operation commenced after it was reported that he and three other teenage boys had got into difficulty in the River Eden near Rosehill, Carlisle, on Friday evening.

“A 14-year-old boy, who was airlifted to hospital on Friday evening, remains in a critical condition.

“One of the group managed to swim to safety, while another was rescued safely by a member of the public. Both were checked over by medical professionals.”