A teenager who died after getting into difficulty in a river "didn't know [the] risk", an inquest heard.
Lotus Bowker, 15, went into the River Wyre near Garstang Cricket Club with three friends on May 17 despite being told not to by his parents as he could not swim properly and was only able to doggy paddle. Lotus, from Kirkham, Lancashire, had a Developmental Learning Disorder which meant he had some communication issues and "didn't know risk", but he tried to deal with the condition by "copying his peers" and his mum Andromeda also said he was "easily led".
Earlier in the day on May 17, Lotus and his friends had been on their way to the river when his dad David passed the group in the car. David had assumed the boys were going to Ribby Hall to swim and when he discovered their actual plan later, from one of the other parents, he was angry as he knew his son couldn't swim.
At an inquest into the teenager's death, held today at Preston Coroners' Court, Area Coroner Emma Mather heard that the four boys had been drinking beer before going into the water but Lotus only had a "very low" amount in his system. After Lotus jumped into the river from the bank he immediately began to struggle and ended up pulling one of his friends under the water as he started to panic, reported LancashireLive.
Detective Inspector Adrian Knowles described how the other boys were interviewed after Lotus died. One of the boys said "Lotus had been saying all day that he was going to jump off the bridge" and said that "he couldn't swim but he'd had some lessons" in primary school.
The inquest heard that the boys had gone into the water close to a pumping station with the depth about two metres. Just moments before Lotus jumped into the river an on-duty police medic was passing by as part of an unrelated search for a high risk missing person. PC Joshua Carr saw the four boys by the bridge and went over to speak to them. "He asked them what they were doing," the coroner said, reading from a statement. "He warns them that this is very dangerous. He told them repeatedly to be safe."
Three passers-by, who were walking along the riverbank at the time, raced to help when they realised that Lotus was drowning. Shelby Quigley, who had been doing her Duke of Edinburgh expedition at the time, was first to enter the water, taking care not to jump to avoid cold water shock, and swam over to where Lotus was.
"She managed to hold him at the top of the water but she was really struggling and she had to let him go," the coroner said. Neil Quinn was walking past with his family when he saw Shelby attempting to save Lotus. He managed to get Lotus to the bank after he had been under the water for around eight minutes. The two then started CPR.
Off-duty anaesthetist Steve Wiggans, who works at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, also happened to be passing. He used equipment from a police officer's first aid kit to remove vomit from Lotus's stomach and airway. Dawn Oliver, who was walking by the river at the time and heard the boys' voices, "was aware that young people had jumped in the river and was concerned that was something that might be happening", the coroner said.
"She heard someone shouting for help. She saw two teenage boys ducking under the water and then coming back up. One of the two was very quiet; strangely silent. She was trying to encourage one of the boys to keep his head out of the water."
Lotus was first taken to the Royal Preston Hospital and had a spontaneous return of circulation prior to arriving. He had been in cardiac arrest for 28 minutes. He was also severely hypothermic with a core body temperature of just 30.6C. Lotus was then transferred to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. In the early hours of Sunday May 18 he suffered two more cardiac arrests and doctors advised his parents that he would continue to worsen and had likely suffered a severe brain injury due to a lack of oxygen.
He suffered a third cardiac arrest at 5.25am and was pronounced dead at 5.35am. The cause of death was recorded as drowning with the Developmental Learning Disorder listed as a contributory factor. After Lotus died, United Utilities carried out an investigation to determine what safety and security measures had been in place at the time and if anything could be improved.
Steve Walker, who is in charge of Water Services for United Utilities in Lancashire, explained that there were "nine or 10" warning signs at the site. The existing fencing, across land owned by United Utilities, the Environment Agency, Garstang Cricket Club and Wyre Council, was at a height of 4/5ft but this has since been increased to two metres.
The 'boxes' which Lotus's friends jumped from contain monitoring devices used by UU to gauge water flow and determine if water can be extracted. Mr Walker said UU would also be speaking with the Environment Agency to see if anything else could be done to prevent people from climbing onto the boxes.
Area Coroner Emma Mather returned a conclusion of misadventure which is when a death is caused by the unintended consequences of an intended act.
"Lotus was potentially quite easily led, in part because of his Developmental Learning Disorder... and I also find that this affected his ability to weigh up risks," the coroner said. "He has been encouraged by his friends to swim and jump but he was not pushed by his friends or bullied."