'Hard-hitting' advice can prevent future Cambridgeshire water deaths, claims campaigner
There have been two water deaths in the county since last summer
A campaigner believes tougher messaging around open water swimming will keep more young people in Cambridgeshire safe.
Since last August, two teenagers have died after getting into difficulty while swimming in lakes within the county.
Rebecca Ramsay lost her son Dylan in 2011 after he drowned in a quarry.
"With crossing the roads, we've got 'stop, look and listen'; it's powerful, hard-hitting and we need something like that for open water swimming," she said.
"It's no lifeguard, no swimming; if we can get all young people and adults to take more of that advice, we'd use a lot less people than what we actually do."
Earlier this month, 16-year-old Jack Connor Anthony Lloyd died after he went missing while swimming with friends at Crown Lakes Country Park in Farcet.
An inquest opened three weeks after the incident heard the teenager's proposed cause of death was drowning.
Last summer, Dishone Lloyd - also 16 - died while swimming in Burnside Lakes in Cherry Hinton on the hottest day of the year.
Elizabeth Gray, area coroner, concluded the teenager drowned.
'Cold water shock is a killer'
"Open water is freezing cold and cold water shock is a killer," Rebecca said.
"I believe if these children, young people and adults were educated and understood not just about the dangers of open water but the tragedy they leave behind when it does all go wrong, I don't think they'd take the risk of going in."
In 2023, there were 659 water-related deaths in the UK with 236 of those being accidental, according to the National Water Safety Forum.
This week, the National Fire Chiefs' Council is running a Be Water Aware campaign to raise awareness of the risks of accidental drowning.
Rebecca - who has been campaigning on water safety since her son's death - hopes advice can be passed on before another life is at risk.
"Sadly for me, I knew nothing about the dangers in and around open water, so I couldn't pass that knowledge onto my child.
"It's about children and young people hearing what we're saying and these conversations, they need to hear them."