Mothers whose children drowned in Bournemouth campaign for better education on water safety

• The mothers speak with reporter Derek Johnson about their campaigning efforts

Two mothers whose children drowned off Bournemouth beach have joined a national campaign to raise awareness about water safety.

Joe Abbess, 17, from Southampton, and Sunnah Khan, 12, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, drowned after they were caught in what was thought to be a riptide next to Bournemouth Pier last May.

Nine other people were treated by paramedics.

Now, their mothers Vanessa Abbess and Stephanie Williams, have shared their stories as part of a campaign run by the charity the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS).

Vanessa Abbess, Joe's mother, said: "Joe and Sunnah were on a lifeguarded beach in the UK on a sunny summer day and you would never imagine this could happen but it did.

"I think it's an element of responsibility that everyone does need to think about. There is dangers in any water and as such the more awareness we can raise the better."

The pair want to encourage people to have conversations about water safety with their families to help people stay safe in open water.

It comes as the RLSS says 2022 saw a 46% increase in the number of child drownings in the UK, compared to the 5-year average.

Speaking about the rise, Matt Croxhall, Royal Lifesaving Society UK, said: "It might be that we have had some significant warm weather events, heatwaves that has led to that partly.

"There's the closing of leisure centres, especially coming out of Covid. More people are exploring outdoor swimming, paddle boarding etc."

He added: "If you yourself find yourself in trouble in water then assume that starfish position, try and get on your back and float naturally. Conserve that energy and that will help you buy those valuable seconds and minutes to await rescue."

Vanessa Abbess said her son "was a nice, caring, considerate young man" who looked after his family and friends.

She said: "It's so tragic that when he was doing so well in life with such big dreams and ambitions and was so loved, to be snatched away in a moment."

A pre inquest into the deaths heard the riptide was caused by a lethal combination of events with an expert describing it as “an unfortunate anomaly of nature”.

Stephanie Williams added: "It doesn't seem real that she's gone. I still find it incredibly difficult to process what's happened to her and that we're not going to see her again.

"She was just turning into a young woman and she would have gone really far in life and done really great things but she's gone and it seems really unfair."

A full inquest will be held at a later date.

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