Swanscombe heatwave deaths: eight drowned in lakes and rivers
swanscombe: Eight people died after getting into difficulties in England while swimming in lakes and rivers during record-breaking hot weather that coincided with the May Bank Holiday and school half-term. The deaths came as warm weather drew people into inland waters, and safety groups said the first risk often comes in the water itself, not on the bank.
Reco Puttock and Leadbeater Dam
On Monday, 13-year-old Reco Puttock was pronounced dead after being pulled from Leadbeater Dam in Halifax, West Yorkshire. On the same day, the body of a teenage boy was recovered from a lake in Rother Valley Country Park in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Two teenage boys died in incidents in Yorkshire, part of the wider rise in drownings during the hot spell.
Steve Cavallo, an RNLI volunteer from Pontefract, said warm weather makes inland water hard to resist. “Unfortunately, being in a country that doesn't particularly get a lot of hot weather, as soon as we do get something warm, the temptation is there to jump in any body of water, whether it be coastal or inland rivers and lakes,” he said. “We do get these incidents every year and we're trying to educate people to try to prevent this happening.”
Ashley Jones on cold water
Ashley Jones, the Royal Life Saving Society's head of water safety and education, said the danger can begin the moment someone enters cold water after air temperatures rise quickly. “Even though the air has warmed up – and it's warmed up really quickly (this week) – the water doesn't warm up. So it's absolutely crucial that when we get into the water, we get in slowly,” she said.
Jones said running, jumping or diving in can trigger a gasp. “If you were to run, jump or dive in, the first response you get is a gasp. And that big, sharp intake of air is really dangerous if there's water there. So if you're in the water and you gasp that can start the drowning process,” she said. She added that panic can make the danger worse: “Our heart rate goes up and our breathing goes up. And that can make us panic, and if we panic and we're splashing around that can combine to cause us to inhale and start the drowning process.”
Hidden hazards in inland water
Steve Cavallo said reservoirs and lakes, especially in former industrial sites such as quarries, can contain hidden hazards that trap swimmers. “You don't know what objects are below the surface. Unfortunately people throw stuff in rivers and lakes that shouldn't be there. It's easy to get caught up in that sort of thing,” he said.
Georgia Beardmore, speaking for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said the majority of accidental drownings take place at inland locations rather than coastal regions. That leaves swimmers facing the places they are most likely to choose during hot weather, and the risk rises fastest when people enter cold water quickly instead of easing in.
