Life... saving

Co Durham, talks to school kids about her dead son.

Cameron, 14, was a strong swimmer but died of cold water shock after jumping into the River Wear near Bishop Auckland in July 2015.

He shouted to friends for help but they could not save him. It took divers took seven hours to find his body.

Fiona heard Cameron was missing in a text from her son Curtis, then 12, who was out with his big brother.

She said: “He texted that Cameron had jumped into the river and hadn’t come back up.

“I started to panic and drove straight there. I didn’t know how to get to the site and ended up parking miles away.

“I started to walk down and met Curtis. His face just said it all.”

Fiona, now working with the Royal Life Saving Society, believes educating children about the risks of open water swimming could save lives.

She said: “I’ve relived Cameron’s story to 10,000 kids in different schools and it very often provokes a few tears. I’ve seen grown men crying.” Talking at Salford Quays, where young boys were seen jumping into the water last week, Rebecca said: “My message is – No lifeguard, no swimming. It’s not worth the risk.”

Recently, a couple who have lost their son phoned her.

She said: “They want you to tell them that everything’s going to be OK. I say, ‘It’s not going to get better but I’m here for you and I know what you’re going through.’”

Shoulder to shoulder with the three mums is Mark, whose son Michael, 20, died in August 2015 after jumping into the Jubilee River in Berkshire. He had been celebrating the end of a Prince’s Trust course with three pals.

Mark, of Langley, Berks, said Michael had rescued a friend but he was unable to save himself.

He said: “Michael’s friends have to live with the memory of this forever and that’s a terrible thing. It wasn’t their fault.”

The tragedy hit Mark’s youngest child Lily, just seven at the time, especially hard. She needed counselling to cope with the loss. Mark said: “We’ll never forget Michael, we talk about him all the time.” Salford and Trafford fire chief Paul Duggan praised the parents for their safety campaign. He said: “Sadly, open water is a magnet for people during the summer. People see it as somewhere they can cool off. But they don’t see the danger.”

Voice of the Sunday People: P14