A water safety campaigner from Chorley has said the government should be doing more to help keep people safe, as warm weather means an increased risk of drowning in open water.
Beckie Ramsay founded the Doing it for Dylan campaign in memory of her son, who died from drowning 12 years ago on Monday, to raise awareness that even the most confident swimmers can quickly get into trouble, sometimes with fatal consequences.
She has spoken in schools nationwide and has called on the government to add water safety to the national curriculum and to broadcast public safety announcements on primetime television.
She said: “I’ve been fighting for twelve years to get water safety on the national curriculum and we’re still fighting now.
“I’ve got 100,000 signatures on a petition and I was promised roundtable meetings with the government but they didn’t take place because of reshuffles and stuff like that – I did my bit as far as the petition was concerned, but sadly the government didn’t.”
Despite acknowledging the dangers of open water swimming, Ramsay is not calling for the practice to be banned outright but rather for young people to be better educated about the dangers many don’t consider.
She said: “Obviously teaching children to swim is on the curriculum – are we not just teaching our children just enough to kill themselves?
“Because by arming them with the knowledge of thinking they can swim, does that lead to them thinking they can swim in open water? Because a totally different skill set is required, and nobody’s telling our children that.”
Ramsay’s son, Dylan, swam in a competition in Windermere not long before he died, but she thinks it needs to be made clearer to young people that swimming in a professionally organised event is very different from swimming in open water unsupervised.
Matthew Hamer, Prevention and Protection Area Manager at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service agreed that while swimming in open water can be great for exercise, it can also be very dangerous.
He said: “While we don’t want to stop people having fun, we have been rescuing people from the worst moments in their lives for quite some time now and are all too aware of the risks when temperatures soar.
“Anyone can get into difficulty in the water, even if they are a strong swimmer – it is very important to respect the water and be mindful that the worst can happen at any time.”
As someone who knows this fact all too well, Ramsay wants more young people to be well aware of the risks, and frequently speaks at schools like Colne Primet Academy, who asked her to deliver an assembly last week.
Jackie Edington, the school’s multi-agency co-ordinator, said they planned to ask Ramsay back next year to lead some more workshops.
She said: “It was a devastating story and such a brave thing to do – you could hear a pin drop.
“We usually have the fire and rescue service in school at this time who do a great job, however having the ‘lived experience’ presented in this way certainly hit home with both students and staff.”
Diane Bielby, the school’s Head of RCS and PSHE also praised Ramsay’s strong will in dedicating her life to educating people and campaigning.
She said: “Hearing Dylan’s story is so important to our students, and for them to hear it from his mum means the message of dangerous consequences of going in open water will, I’m sure, resonate with them for a long time.”
According to the National Water Safety Forum, an average of 19 people drown per year from swimming in open water.
More information on staying safe when open water swimming can be found here: https://www.nationalwatersafety.org.uk/advice-and-information/open-water-swimming.
Photo: Rebecca Ramsay / Doing it for Dylan
