Family of 15-year-old boy who drowned in Wigan lake, speak out for first time
Alex Crook was pulled from Scotman's Flash on the 7th of September
The family of a teenage boy who drowned in a Wigan lake have been speaking out for the first time.
Alex Crook was 15-years-old when he was pulled from Scotman's Flash on the 7th of September.
His dad, Neil Crook, said Alex had been in the water with friends when he got into difficulty, and wasn't taking part in any arranged water sports activities. He was then called by one of the friends parents: "She just told me that you need to come to Scotsman Flash because Alex had been pulled out the water.
"She did say something along the lines of Alex wasn't breathing."
"As we got to Wigan hospital, we were behind the ambulance, and the police, and as we got there and I jumped out the car. They were just pulling Alex out of the back of the ambulance to rush him straight into resus.
"I could see the machines that they use, I could see that, working away on him."
"His birthday was the 8th of October, he would've been 16."
"We've got Christmas coming up, which is going to be a totally different feeling."
"He was doing really, really, well at school. He'd just been awarded the senior prefects.
Neil's since launched a campaign, calling for more safety equipment around open waters, and education: "This is one thing we're going to be fighting for, we're just making sure we're going down the right paths.
"We want signage, we want safety rings, and throw ropes, that's the main three things we want there and we will get them.
"We've seen umpteen children hanging around there, and ready to jump in, and are jumping in, so that's our main focus at the minute... is to get things in place for next summer, or before the weather picks up again, to try and stop it.