Tributes have been left at the scene where a 13-year-old boy drowned while cooling off over the scorching bank holiday weekend.
The boy, named locally as Reco Puttock, died after getting into difficulty at Leadbeater Dam, near Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Flowers have been left at the scene with messages such as ‘RIP Reco. Miss you millions’ and ‘RIP Reco. You will be forever missed’.
In a series of Facebook posts paying tribute to Reco, his dad Alan Damon Robinson wrote: ‘I was hoping I’d wake up this morning and it [would have] been a nightmare but it’s not, it’s reality. ‘Rest in eternal peace my boy. Heartbroken isn’t the word.’
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He added: ‘To the lads that jumped in please message me so I can come down and shake your hands.’
The teen drowned in front of dozens of onlookers at the popular swimming spot.
His mother paid tribute to her son, describing him as close to his three sisters and ‘especially with his big sister’.
His mother told the Telegraph and Argus: ‘He loved being out with his friends. That’s what he enjoyed most.
‘I don’t know what to feel, I think I’ve just cried and cried since about 7am this morning… I don’t think I can bring myself to any more at the minute.’
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire police said the teenage boy was pulled from the water and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Three other teenagers and a man in his 60s have died during the record-breaking May heatwave.
The deaths prompted the RNLI to warn of the ‘very real risk’ of swimming in open water.
The charity said on Tuesday that whilst temperatures hit record highs for May over the bank holiday weekend, water temperatures remained low and could lead to cold water shock.
This can lead to hyperventilation, a spike in heart rate and blood pressure as the body reacts to cold water. In the worst cases, even competent swimmers can drown as their bodies cannot cope with the change in temperature.
The National Fire Chiefs Council is urging families to speak to children about the risks of unsupervised swimming in rivers, lakes, quarries, canals and reservoirs, particularly during warm weather due to cold water shock.
Gavin Ellis, NFCC Drowning Prevention lead said: ‘No family should have to experience the devastation of losing a loved one in the water. We know that warm weather encourages people to visit rivers, lakes and reservoirs, but these places can be extremely dangerous.
‘Cold water shock can affect anyone, no matter how confident they feel in the water. Jumping into open water can cause an involuntary gasp response, panic and loss of swimming ability almost immediately, which is why we urge people not to swim in unsupervised locations during this hot weather.
‘We’re asking parents and carers to have open conversations with children and teenagers about the risks, and for young people to look after each other and make safe decisions around water. These incidents can happen very quickly, but many are preventable.’
On Sunday, a body was found in the search for a boy who got into trouble in a lake in Lincoln.
Emergency services were called to Swanholme Lakes at 2.30pm on Sunday after reports that 15-year-old Declan Sawyer had entered the water and was missing.
On Monday, a man in his 60s died of cardiac arrest after entering the sea at Tregirls Beach, Padstow, to help two family members who had gotten into difficulty, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
The two family members were brought to safety by members of the public.
Later that evening, the body of a teenage girl was recovered from the water at Kingsbury Water Park, Warwickshire.
Abbie Carmody-Pepper was named as the 15-year-old girl who vanished at Burrow Beach.
The body of a fourth teenager was recovered from the water at Rother Valley Country Park in the early hours of Tuesday morning after he went missing, South Yorkshire Police said.
A specialist search operation was launched following reports at 6.50pm on Monday that the boy had entered the water but had not been seen getting out.
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