EXCLUSIVE: Newcastle mum raising awareness of water safety after death of teenage son
14-year-old David Radut died after getting into difficulty in the River Tyne
A Newcastle mum whose teenage son died after getting into difficulty in the River Tyne is raising awareness of water safety.
14-year-old David Radut drowned in the river near Ovingham, Northumberland, in May last year.
Aurora Radut, his mother, exclusively spoke with Hits Radio North East for the first time since the incident and says that she does not want another family to go through the same heartbreak.
She said: "My heart is broke. I don’t want another kid, or another mum to go through what happened with my son. I want to tell all the mums to keep your children safe.
"It is very, very hard and still I cannot believe what has happened with David.
"My life has changed too much."
She tells us how her son had asked her to go out with his friends and at first she said no, but then he insisted.
She said: “David told me 'please mum it’s nice out and I would like to go outside, I’ll leave and then I’ll come back about 7 o’clock'.
“But David did not come back.”
She shared the heartbreak of having to ask a family member to go to the hospital and confirm whether it was her son.
She told him: “Go and check if it's David, because I don't believe it's David.
“My brother-in-law is very upset, he's crying. I'm telling him it's David. He said yes, it's David. Still, I don't believe David's died.
“I am in shock that this has happened with David.”
Now, Aurora is hoping other families will learn from what happened to David, and can avoid going through similar devastation.