A family who suffered a double tragedy after two loved ones died in the same river are backing the Mirror’s call for action after the latest “sickening” drownings.
Grandad Michael Scott thought he was dreaming when his daughter Zoe phoned him screaming that her sixteen-year-old son Tyler Wilson “was in the river”.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening again. I felt like I was dreaming. It was unbelievable, I couldn’t believe history was repeating itself,” he told The Mirror.
His grandson, Tyler, who was a good swimmer, had tragically drowned near Methley Bridge in Castleford, West Yorkshire, after entering the River Aire and Calder on May 24 2023 and being hit by cold water shock.
View 7 ImagesMick Scott and his daughter Zoe back at the scene of Tyler’s death. They are urging the Government to take action(Image: CHRIS NEILL)
Around 12 years earlier, the grandad’s little brother Andrew Scott, 46, who couldn’t swim, lost his life after taking a shortcut across some stepping stones. His niece and Tyler’s mum, was one of the first on the scene both times.
Former miner and ground worker Michael, 67, said: “I drilled it into Tyler about the water because of what happened to my brother. But they don’t listen, I don’t suppose I did when I was young.”
He never in his worst nightmares thought their tragic history would repeat itself.
View 7 ImagesTyler was a good swimmer but he drowned after being hit by ‘cold shock’
“My daughter, Tyler’s mum rang. I couldn’t even understand her. She was screaming. I just remember her saying ‘he’s in the river’.
“I can’t even try to tell you how I felt. I was with my wife and we had to rush about five or six miles to the river in my van. I’ll tell you what, I’ve never gone so fast in my life.
“We were just stood at the bridge watching, the police and ambulance were there. The bridge was full. We just had to stand there looking, waiting, to see if they could find him. There were drones up above.”
His wife Susan explained: “All his mates were there too, there were loads there. I was thinking please just find him because my husband lost his brother and it took them days to find him. He was in for nearly three days because they couldn’t find him.”
View 7 ImagesOpen steps lead down to the water near the spot Tyler vanished(Image: CHRIS NEILL)
After an hour and a half the police were told to clear Methley bridge as they had found Tyler’s body and were going to pull him out. His family were moved away from the unbearable sight as Tyler was put in the ambulance and taken to hospital.
Tyler’s mum Zoe Graham, 38, said: “It was horrendous. They found him but he wasn’t alive. He was gone. I went with the police and followed the ambulance to the hospital, it was horrendous, absolutely horrendous.
“I wasn’t allowed in the room on my own because I went into such a state, I collapsed, I was in a wheelchair. It was horrible, the worst experience of my life.
“It’s massively affected us, the hurt, the pain, we have to live with this daily. It took a massive, massive piece of our heart away.
View 7 ImagesThe death of Tyler Wilson, 16, had it ‘drilled’ into him not to go near the river after his uncle drowned
“I just still don’t get it because he knew the danger because of my uncle dying. I drilled it in his head every day because I couldn’t go through it again.”
Talking about the day she lost her uncle, she said: “My brother’s friend came knocking at the door and I went down there. But it was a couple of days until they got him out of the River and it was the same again. They brought him out, we all moved away, and they took him to hospital with my mum and dad.”
Talking about the loss of his little brother, her dad said they were living in Knottingley at the time and Andrew was walking home by the river with a pal. “They call me ‘Smet’ and his nickname was ‘young Smet’. Someone rang me and said ‘are you all right?’ They said someone had jumped off a bridge and was in the river. I said ‘what do you mean? I heard a helicopter about a mile away, my dad was already down there, we’d only recently lost my mum.
“He had been walking with his mate and there was an island in the middle and you could use stepping stones to get over. He got over and he went to the island and he was messing about and his mate was on the other side. He shouted to his mate to come and join him, as it would take two miles to go the long way round.
“His mate was rolling a cigarette and when he looked up he was gone. He’d slipped on the stepping stone. He couldn’t swim and the current took him. You never think it is going to happen to you but it has to us, twice.”
As Zoe walks along the riverbank, to the sport where her son jumped in, her legs start shaking and she says: “I’d tell Tyler every day ‘stay away from the river. If you want to go to a swimming bath, let me know, I’ll sort some money out. I drilled it every day. Never in a million years did I sit there and think I was gonna get that phone call. When he first died I couldn’t even get in a bath or a shower because I couldn’t see the water, I was scared. I can’t go near water now, I get trembles down my body.”
About the latest tragedies she said: “It was sickening. The first day or two when I saw it I couldn’t eat, I felt physically sick and I would just sit thinking about those poor families. They’ve got to save the children.”
View 7 ImagesHer mum Susan add: “It has taken my daughter as well, she’s traumatised all the time and my granddaughter, she’s only 13. “
Michael adds: “People need to know it never goes away. It’s been three years since we lost Tyler and it’s like it was yesterday. It’s all the family, it spreads out, the friends, it affects so many people.”
One family grieving is one too many and every year, on average, we lose a classroom of children. This is why the Mirror has launched ‘Save Lives for Sam campaign’ to stop these “catastrophic” deaths. Drowning in the UK has become a ‘national emergency’ campaigners say, as we join forces to urge the Government to take urgent action.
View 7 ImagesMick Scott and daughter Zoe Graham back at the scene are backing the Mirror ‘Save Lives for Sam’ water safety campaign(Image: CHRIS NEILL)
Bereaved families like Tyler’s, The Royal Lifesaving Society UK (RLSS UK), RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Lee Pitcher MP, the Black Swimming Association (BSA), The National Water Safety Forum, the RNLI, Swim England and the Swimming Alliance, have all joined forces with the Mirror.
Olympic legends Becky Adlington and Tom Dean have also backed our ‘Save Lives for Sam’ water safety campaign – alongside elite swimmer Michael Gunning.
Tyler’s family are also backing the campaign. More than 500 people turned up for a balloon release after the popular teen died. His grandad told how he’d got his grandson into college shortly before to study bricklaying and Michael still wears the teen’s visi jacket.
View 7 Images“It’s 100 per cent education that’s what they need. It needs to go on things like TikTok, kids watch things like that. We had ‘Charlie Says’ when we were kids. I still remember that. We need it on TikTok, 90 per cent of kids have Tiktok. I just feel the Government and the powers to be are not doing anything to help, to put it out there to stop them.”
In their lounge gran and grandad have Tyler’s photo with a pair of his favourite pair of sunglasses hanging over it and a candle.
In a message to other youngsters, they plead: “Think about what you are doing, you don’t know about currents, what’s underneath the water, cold water shock. They think it’s going to be five minutes of fun but it could end your life. All your family will suffer, it’s that ripple effect. It spreads out. It affects so many people.”
Susan added: “There’s too many children dying in the water” and Zoe says: “It hits me like a tonne of bricks. I feel so sorry for all those parents and I know how they are feeling.’