A 13-year-old boy from the U.K. drowned after he got stuck underwater by a tree, according to an inquest on Monday, August 18, per the BBC. Teenager Kane Edwards tragically died in the River Tawe in May 2022 while swimming with a friend.
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Inquest Heard For 13-Year-Old Who Drowned After Getting Stuck Under Tree In Water
For 45 minutes, emergency services frantically searched for the boy, PC Richard Petherbridge of South Wales Police revealed. Unfortunately, the “murky” and fast-rushing water made it impossible to save him.
Two bystanders noticed Kane and his friend paddling through the river and paid them no mind. Shortly after, witness Matthew Altarno claimed Kane’s friend ran up to him in a panic.
“Have you seen my friend?” said the boy. “He’s gone under the water and not come up.”
Altarno quickly called emergency services. Sadly, the water was “too dark” to see through. He was simply told to keep others out while the emergency crew arrived.
They also called a helicopter, but otherwise kept the search team small. Kane likely didn’t drift far, so they wouldn’t have to look in a large area.
Rescue teams struggled to traverse the fast-rushing water, some nearly being swept away by the currents. Eventually, one member of the fire department went underwater and found a “tree on the bottom of the river pinning the boy under it.”
The inquest heard that rescuers used a small boat to recover Kane’s body in the center of the river. A post-mortem examination discovered that Kane died from drowning.
How The Boy Got Stuck Underwater
The court also heard how the boys managed to get themselves into that situation. It was allegedly Kane’s idea to go swimming, despite the other boy describing the water as “freezing.”
The boy told investigators the current carried him downstream when Kane should’ve followed. Instead, Kane seemed to “have his foot trapped,” the boy noticing his head go underwater.
Coroner Edward Ramsay on Monday asked the service manager of the Welsh Ambulance Service if “valuable time had been lost” while searching for the incident’s location.
They allegedly discussed this at the ambulance service’s “serious case incident forum.” Still, it did not “meet the level of harm threshold” for a full report.
There were still many mishaps while finding the boy’s location. Emergency services received an initial address, but it was on the wrong side of the river. A passerby had given them this nearby location after the what3words app also failed to find a location.
The inquest into this tragic death from three years ago is still ongoing.