Mum’s warning over water safety after son, 19, drowns on drunken night out

A mum whose university student son drowned after a night out is backing a new water safety campaign as the weather finally heats up.

Andrea Corrie has joined London Fire Brigade’s initiative to prevent drowning in memory of her son James Clark who died after falling into the River Thames.

Official figures show that 30 people died in the Thames last year, and around one-in-four had alcohol in their system.

James had finished his first year at Brighton University, where he was training to become a teacher, and had met up with some college friends for a night out in Kingston, south west London, in July 2005.

At the end of the night, the friends separated to get taxis in different directions and neither group realised James wasn’t with the others.

The 19-year-old’s body was found three days later near Kingston Bridge.

Andrea, a writer from Devon, said: ‘James had said to me that evening not to worry if he didn’t come back which wasn’t unusual as he often stayed with friends, so I wasn’t concerned he wasn’t home the following morning.

‘I started to feel worried later in the day when he hadn’t appeared and he hadn’t replied to a message from me.

‘Then a friend of his phoned and asked if I had seen or heard from him because none of them could get hold of him, and my heart just sank.

‘I had an instinctive feeling that the worst had happened.’

Following her son’s death, Andrea visited Kingston and could see how easily the tragedy happened, with a large drop from the riverside path to the water and no barriers or safety measures in place.

She has since campaigned to make riversides safer and worked with Kingston Council for three years to take action to prevent accidents.

Changes the council have made since Andrea got involved include: riverside safety barriers, water safety training for local business staff, improved CCTV, lighting and life-saving equipment and more rigorous incident reporting methods.

Alongside her writing Andrea also campaigns tirelessly around water safety, and helps the Brigade to spread the message about how important it is to keep safe by the water.

She added: ‘How would you feel if you imagined your parents opening the door to a police officer to tell them you’ve drowned? It’s the worst thing that can ever possibly happen to you as a parent.

‘It’s not about being a killjoy and trying to stop people having fun – it’s about raising awareness about how quickly life can change.

‘Think about the situation you are in and what the worst thing is that could happen and just hold it in your mind for a few moments to give you that awareness this summer.

‘If having the awareness out there about the dangers makes another person decide to take a bit of extra care, perhaps not have that last drink, and be less cavalier with their safety, it will be worth it.’