A couple who tragically lost their 16-year-old son after he drowned in a reservoir five years ago have urged parents to teach their children about the dangers of open water.
Simon and Gaynor Haycock have dedicated their lives to educating young people about the dangers of water.
They said: “Parents, please, please be aware! You might not always be aware of where your children are, but please make them aware of the dangers of open water – the message is: don’t let it be you!”
Sam Haycock, 16, had been celebrating the end of term with friends when he went to his local reservoir.
After playing a game of rock, paper, scissors, he jumped from a bridge into the water and drowned at Ulley Reservoir, Rotherham, on May 28, 2021.
View 4 ImagesThe family have since started a mission called Sam’s Army’s Mission 1 Life(Image: Haycock family)
Simon, 56, of Sheffield, told the Mirror: “Never in a million years would that have entered my head, that he’d have done anything like that.”
Gaynor, 60, said: “He’s never been in that area before, it’s so out of character but they all decided to leave school and go out,” Gaynor said.
The couple soon became tragically aware of how common drowning deaths were. Simon said: “A few weeks after we lost Sam, another young man did exactly the same thing off exactly the same bridge.
“It opened up a lot, why are they doing this off this bridge? So our first thing was out of frustration to campaign to make that bridge safe.
Now, Simon and Gaynor visit schools and colleges, and volunteer with fire brigades, with the aim of saving just one life.
View 4 ImagesIt was out of the ordinary for Sam to jump in the water(Image: Haycock family)
“I talk about consequences and ripple effects and how it’s how Sam’s incident affected us as a family and everybody associated with Sam, and the hurt that it causes,” Simon said.
“Sam was one of hundreds of people that drowned that year – that’s a lot of ripples and their lives that it touches. It’s frightening for what is a completely preventable thing.”
He added: “Sam’s favourite saying was: “It won’t happen to me.
“But they’re not invincible, and that’s what they need to know. Hopefully by telling Sam’s story, they realise it can happen to them.
“I want to make it known to young people that you don’t want to be in Sam’s position.”
View 4 ImagesThe family will be releasing a water safety video in the hopes it reaches thousands of people
However, Simon hopes his plea would be heard by parents as he says young people are not thinking of the dangers when they’re having fun, they just need to be educated.
“When it comes to cold water and open water, it’s actually irrelevant whether you can swim or not,” he added, “people underestimate these places – the amount of debris and rubbish that are thrown into there like push bikes, shopping trolleys, and things like that that are underneath surface that you can’t see.”
The family founded Sam’s Army’s Mission 1 Life and are currently processing a new water safety video to get the message across to thousands of people.
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“When we hear about the recent events and people losing their life in our water, it cuts deep. It really does, because you feel like I ain’t got to them and I ain’t got that message across to them, and it hurts,” he added.