Man found dead in reservoir just days after buying kayak
AMUCH-LOVED husband was found dead in a
West Yorkshire reservoir several days after he had purchased a second-hand kayak in a ‘spur of the moment’ decision. Outdoors enthusiast Artur Olszewski, 40, from Heywood, had told his wife
Iwona that he wanted to try kayaking, which he had not done before.
He decided to buy one second-hand for £25 after he had seen an advert on Facebook Marketplace.
Artur drove to Ripponden near Halifax on Sunday, July 30, 2023, to buy the 9ft kayak from Trevor Taylor which he managed to fit into his car by removing the front seat, Bradford Coroner’s Court heard.
Mr Taylor described the kayak as ‘quite old’ and said it was made from moulded plastic and had one seat.
Artur did not return home and was reported missing.
Iwona’s friend Agata set out to retrace Artur’s journey to Halifax and on July 31, came across his Vauxhall Insignia car parked in Oldham Road, near Booth Wood Reservoir, which is close to the M62 and off the A672 near Ripponden, West Yorkshire.
Agata then spotted a kayak on the far side of the reservoir and alerted police.
A paddle was then found on a rock on the north-east side of the reservoir.
Police officers and police divers with West Yorkshire Police then carried out an extensive search of the reservoir and the surrounding area but Artur could not be found.
On the tenth day of the search, August 10, officers spotted something in the middle of the reservoir which was tragically confirmed
to be Artur. A postmortem examination confirmed that Artur had drowned.
In a statement, Iwona said Artur had loved the outdoors and had worked as a carpenter.
He had spoken about his plan to buy a kayak for a couple of weeks, she said.
She said Artur was a strong swimmer.
The couple had previously lived in Poland before settling in Heywood, having moved to the UK in 2008.
Senior coroner Martin Fleming said it was not known why Artur had got into difficulty but the water temperature was around 16°C to 18°C, which was within the range that ‘cold water shock’ can occur.
The reservoir’s deepest spot was measured at 47m.
He said it was not possible to say what had happened, but it was possible that Artur had misjudged
the control of the kayak and had found himself in very cold water.
Mr Fleming said it was a “spontaneous decision” to try the kayak soon after he bought it in a “spur of the moment” decision.
Mr Fleming said Artur had not told anyone of his plans to try out the kayak and had not been wearing a life jacket.
On the balance of probabilities, the coroner said he believed the kayak had capsized.
“It is more likely than not Artur died as a result of misadventure.
“He went on the reservoir for recreational purposes and events got out of his control,” he said.
After the hearing, Iwona said that Artur was a ‘caring and loving husband’ who had loved the outdoors.
She said: “He liked going outdoors and visiting all the places like the Lake District and Peak District and to go hiking in Scotland.”