Paramedic says he has flashbacks to drowning of schoolboy Sam Haycock in Rotherham

A paramedic who was called out to a South Yorkshire reservoir when a 16-year-old boy drowned three years ago says he remembers the incident "as if it was yesterday".

Darren Thorpe, a member of the Hazardous Area Response Team, said he still has flashbacks to the scene of the tragedy at Ulley Reservoir in Sheffield where Sam Haycock died.

"I can still remember seeing his uniform folded up at the side of the reservoir, it will never leave me," he said.

Mr Thorpe joined a water safety event at Clifton Park in Rotherham organised by Sam's father Simon Haycock aimed at getting the message across that cold water kills.

"I'm giving up my time because of that day, because I want to help Sam's dad and I want to talk to people about not getting into the water."

"Even though the water looks tempting when it's warm, the reservoir isn't, it's cold. It's not safe," he said.

Figures from the National Water Safety Forum show that since Sam Haycock died in 2021 the number of accidental drownings has risen.

Last year in the UK there were 236 deaths, ten more than in 2022.

Sam's father Simon said he wanted something positive to come from his son's death and has set up Sam's Army Mission to spread the message about the dangers of open water.

"Three years after Sam died it's really hard. But rather than dwell on the sad story about losing somebody to drowning, we put an event on to try to show to people what we're trying to do about it," he said.

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