Young people swimming in South Yorkshire's open water described as a 'recipe for disaster'
It's after a teenager drowned at Rother Valley Country Park over the recent May Bank Holiday weekend
South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service tell us it's 'frustrating & upsetting' when they have to deal with open water tragedies.
Today marks exactly a week since 16-year-old Muhammed Secka drowned at Rother Valley Country Park.
He's the 5th person to die in open water across South Yorkshire since 2022.
Firefighter Matt Craig was one of those involved in the rescue efforts last Monday:
"It is very frustrating and upsetting when these incidents happen.
"I think any incident where there's a possibility of losing a life in this manner does affect firefighters and all those other emergency responders who attend.
"You can't comprehend how devastating cold-water shock can be, and how debilitating that can be even for a strong swimmer.
"You can lose the ability to stay afloat, and if someone goes into the open water with little to no swimming skills, then it's a recipe for disaster.
"Underneath the water there can be undercurrents, machinery, and also what people have dumped in there.
"There might be shopping trolleys; all sorts of entanglements which can be in there that you can't see.
"If you want to swim in open water there are registered clubs and teams you can join.
"There's places you can go to do it safely.
"Don't do it with your friends under peer pressure, don't do it after drinking alcohol or anything like that; just stay out of the open water."
Andrew Bramidge, Executive Director of Regeneration and Environment at Rotherham Council, said:
"“We understand that incidents like this raise concerns about safety, and we take those concerns extremely seriously.
“Rother Valley Country Park has a range of safety measures in place. We recently increased the number of regular security patrols and staffing for park maintenance. We have staff actively encouraging visitors to stay out of the water, and a boat monitoring authorised water sports activity on the lake to ensure participants are safe. Clear signage is in place to discourage swimming due to the known risks. We also have additional staff on site this week to provide support and reassurance to visitors.
“However, we continually review safety arrangements, and we will be speaking with partners and local representatives about whether any further measures can be put in place as we go into the summer months.
“Tragic incidents in open water have sadly been seen in other parts of the country in recent days, highlighting the risks that open water can present, particularly in such hot weather.
“We would again urge everyone visiting Rother Valley and our other country parks: outside of organised events, swimming is not permitted. However tempting it is, please stay out of the water.”
Between 2022-2025, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service attended 36 water fatality and rescue incidents in total.