Bereaved Shropshire father in river safety plea after tragedy
The heartbroken father of a Shropshire man who died after getting into difficulties while swimming in a river today pleaded with people to take extra care around water as the hot spell continues.
And Oswestry dad Dave Lawrence gave an emotional thanks to the team of medical staff who battled in vain for two hours to save his 21-year-old son Anthony after he was pulled from a river on the Shropshire/Welsh border.
Mr Lawrence was swimming with his son at the confluence of the rivers Dee and Ceiriog near Chirk on Tuesday when Anthony got into difficulties.
The 44-year-old tried in vain to pull his son to the surface after he went under the water after he began to lose consciousness. An exhausted Mr Lawrence had to give up his bid to save his son after he himself ended up in danger of drowning.
Star comment: Think twice before you go for a dip
Emergency services were called after Anthony's girlfriend, who was with the pair at the time of the tragedy, ran for help.
Anthony was located in the water by emergency services search teams and airlifted to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
Despite the best efforts of medical staff to save him, the former Marches School pupil was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Today, his grieving father issued a heartfelt plea for swimmers to take extra precautions as they cool off in the heatwave.
Mr Lawrence said: "I will never tell anyone not to swim but you have to be so careful. Make sure you are with a large group, take floating aids, keep an eye on the river.
"I swam there hundreds of times when I was younger and never had any trouble.
"We were swimming together when he got into trouble and Anthony started to struggle to stay up. I tried to get him out, keep him up, but I got so tired. It is heartbreaking."
A post mortem was due to be held yesterday and an inquest will be opened in the next few days.
