The father of a boy who drowned in the River Tyne has told of his anguish after another teen died on the same stretch of water. Carl Hattersley says yesterday's tragedy has brought back memories of his ordeal in July 2022 when his son, Robert, 13, died. Robert, from Crawcrook, was swept under by the current when he got into difficulty while swimming with his pals in the river in Ovingham, Northumberland. Yesterday, a 14-year-old boy died and a 13-year-old boy is in a critical condition after getting into difficulty in the same waters. The teen who passed away had jumped in to save his friend who began to struggle while playing on a rope swing, locals revealed.
Mr Hattersley, who has set up a foundation in his son's name to raise awareness of the dangers of open water swimming, said he wanted to send his condolences to the boy's family.
Just how much 'awareness' can you raise, if the constant stream of deaths isn't doing the trick?
He said he was 'quite disappointed' with Northumberland Council, which he says has not been in touch with him since his son's death. 'We thought something would have been done by the Northumberland Council by now,' he said.
Ah, yes, the 'someone should do something!' attitude that's so often prevalent in these cases. Quite what they should do, heaven only knows - fence off every stretch of open water in the area? At a cost to the local taxpayer?
Mr Hattersley said he wanted to raise awareness of the dangers of open water swimming in schools. 'Let's get people aware, of all ages, like these young teenagers,' he said.
'If they're not from around here they might not know the dangers of Northumberland's rivers because it's quite dangerous and strong because of the current.''Kids are kids. They go down to the river and they don't see the dangers, they think it's fine. As the summer gets closer there's going to be more going down there.'
And there will be more drownings. In fact, here they are alreadyhere they are already.
The inconvenient truth, seldom acknowledged, is that most people ignore signs if it suits them.
ReplyDeleteCyclists are well known for ignoring road signs. People with more than 10 items still use the basket lane. People park on double yellows if they can get away with it. Forms are filled in with the wrong coloured ink (gasp!). Recycling often isn't.
If, if, child safety is of paramount importance the fine the parents or carers who allow their children to hurt or kill themselves. I know it seems heartless, but danger signs achieve no practical purpose beyond absolving councils and landowners of blame. Perhaps that is enough?
I always found talking to my children and stressing the dangers, helped to educate them. Far too many let their kids run rampant and have no care or concerns about what they are up to.
ReplyDeletelfb_uk
"...danger signs achieve no practical purpose beyond absolving councils and landowners of blame. Perhaps that is enough?"
ReplyDeleteThat does seem to be their main purpose.
"I always found talking to my children and stressing the dangers, helped to educate them."
Ah, but who wants to put in the actual work to be a parent these days? Not many, it seems.