Park swim boy is badly injured
A TEENAGER was taken to hospital with serious injuries after jumping into a body of water at Reddish Vale Country Park.
Police were called to the beauty spot at around 5pm on Thursday, July 22 to reports of a concern for welfare.
A 15-year-old boy is understood to have jumped into the water, before getting into difficulty.
The incident prompted a major operation from emergency services, with dozens of police, paramedics and fire crews spotted at the scene.
Fortunately, the boy managed to get to the other side of the water as emergency services arrived, GMP said.
He was taken to hospital with what were described as serious but non-life-threatening or life-changing injuries.
Inspector Ian Ashenden, of GMP’s Stockport Division, said he wanted to use this incident as an example of why people should not take the risk of swimming in open water.
He said that the boy was lucky that the outcome was not ‘much worse.’
It comes after a number of water-related deaths across the North West this week as youngsters have attempted to cool off in rivers, quarries and reservoirs.
Repeated warnings have been issued by emergency services about the dangers of such actions.
Inspector Ashenden said: “We want to remind everyone, especially during this hot weather, of the dangers of going into the water. Though tempting to cool down, you really don’t know what’s beneath the surface.
“This incident has left this young man with an injury that, thankfully, he will recover from.
“We urge everyone not to take the risk, as it can so easily be much worse.”