County Durham mum who lost son after river swim welcomes water safety debate
A mum from County Durham whose son died after swimming in the River Wear has welcomed a debate in Parliament on teaching water safety in schools.
Cameron Gosling, from Crook, died of cold water shock in 2015 after jumping into the river near Bishop Auckland. He was 14-years-old.
Since his death his mum, Fiona Gosling, has been involved in a petition calling for all children to be made aware of the dangers.
She said:
This petition, which has 107,356 signatures, calls on the government to “review and enhance curriculum content on water safety, so schools are required to ensure that allchildren know about and know how to deal with issues such as cold water shock and ripcurrents”.
The debate is due to take place in Westminster Hall at 6.15pm on Monday, July 12, and will be lead by MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North Catherine McKinnell.
Durham County Council, which campaigns on water safety, has also give its backing to the debate.
Cllr John Shuttleworth, its cabinet member for communitysafety, said: “We very much welcome the fact MPs are going to be debating the possibilityof children being taught about water safety at swimming lessons, as part of the nationalcurriculum.
“Too many young people have lost their lives in the water all over the country including inCounty Durham and that is why we have pushed so hard to raise awareness of thedangers and risks through the Dying to be Cool campaign and other work such as thesessions at Stanhope pool.
“Anything which means that schoolchildren are given a greater understanding of the risksof going into the water and better equips them should they get into difficulty is to bewelcomed; and we hope our local MPs are able to support what the petition is trying toachieve.”