Drowning tragedy of boy who jumped off river bridge with friend to cool down
‘We did it for a joke, I had no idea he couldn’t swim,’ says sobbing schoolgirl
A DEVASTATED teenager told last night how her friend drowned after they leapt off a bridge and into a river hand-in-hand to cool down.
Megan Simmons had no idea that her companion, Hussain Mohammed, was unable to swim – and battled in vain to rescue him from the Thames.
The pair giggled together on Donnington Bridge in Oxford before taking the spur-of-the-moment decision to leap into the water.
Crouching on the bridge in front of flowers left in memory of Hussain, Megan, 16, said: ‘I had no idea he couldn’t swim. We jumped off the bridge for a joke. Once we hit the water he got into trouble and started screaming and panicking. I tried to help him but he was too heavy.
‘I managed to swim to the side and could still hear him screaming but no one could help him until it was too late. I’m stunned by the whole thing and can’t believe it’s happened.’
Megan’s mother, Angela Eldridge, said her daughter was deeply shocked.
She added: ‘Megan has been up all night and so have I. She couldn’t sleep at all and was just sobbing. She and Hussain had been hanging out together all week. They weren’t boyfriend or girlfriend but were very close.
‘Megan and Hussain had been walking home from school together. Their route took them over the bridge and it was a spur-of-themoment decision to jump in.
‘She’s devastated and I don’t think she’ll ever get over it.’
Hussain, 15, was celebrating winning a college place to study engineering just before the pair jumped into the river at about 8pm on Friday. Witnesses described seeing Megan emerging from the water immediately, but Hussain was struggling and shouting for help.
Onlooker Kayleigh Robbins, 21, a volunteer sea cadet, was the first to jump in to try to help Hussain but when she was within touching distance he disappeared. About a dozen members of City of Oxford Rowing Club also dived in as emergency services launched a rescue attempt.
Firefighters searched for the teenager and a police helicopter was also used. After two hours, an unconscious Hussain was pulled from the water and taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where he was pronounced dead.
Yesterday, Hussain’s sister, accounting student Mehreen Akhtar, 28, said her brother had been ‘full of life’, adding: ‘Two days ago he was accepted to study engineering and was over the moon.
‘It’s a disaster, the whole family is shocked. I saw my little brother leave home as happy as can be and a few hours later he was dead.’
l In Glasgow yesterday, a 23-yearold man drowned after jumping off a waterfall in Linn Park on the south side of the city.
The White Cart Water runs through the park and flows over a ten-foot high waterfall where local youths have posted videos of themselves jumping from the rocks at the top.
It is thought the man leapt in to the water around 1.45pm but failed to resurface. A search and rescue operation was launched and he was pulled him from the water shortly afterwards. He was taken to Glasgow Victoria Infirmary where he died. Police said he had been with a group of friends.