Boy dies after losing ‘rock, paper, scissors’ bet to jump into freezing water
A teenager lost his life after losing a game of rock-paper-scissors and jumping into a freezing reservoir, an inquest has heard.
Despite being unable to swim, Sam Haycock, 16, of Rotherham, Yorkshire made a pact that the loser would jump into nearby Ulley Reservoir one afternoon in May 28 last year.
He and some friends had been celebrating the end of term by the water and began ‘egging’ each other on to leap in.
They eventually agreed for two of them to play to decide who would go in first, YorkshireLive reported.
Sam lost and jumped in but immediately began panicking, prompting another boy to leap in to try and save him but he was unable to do so.
As well as difficulties swimming, Sam had recvently been diagnosed with autism and other complex medical needs, the inquest at Doncaster Coroner’s Court was told.
Craig Pennington, an adult who was nearby at the time, said: ‘I could hear what sounded like young lads laughing and joking around.
‘I could see four teenage boys, it sounded like they were getting more excitable. It appeared like they were egging each other to jump into the water.
‘One of the teenagers then started shouting: “Help me, help me”. I went to see what was happening not realising the urgency until I got next to the side of the bridge. It all happened so quickly.’
Another man, Conna Lee King, said he was about 30 metres from the bridge when he heard a voice shouting ‘I’m drowning, I’m drowning’ and rushed over to help.
The boy who tried to save Sam managed to hang onto a bridge over the reservoir, where he was hoisted to safety by Mr Pennington and Mr King helped him out.
Mr King added: ‘I replied saying I would go in but I couldn’t swim. It all happened so fast.’
A line was thrown out to try and rescue Sam but this also failed, and by the time one of the firefighters attending the 999 call leapt in, it was too late.
A representative from Rotherham Council said floating rings were not available as they were heavy to throw and used by antisocial people for swimming.
He reported a number of incidents of antisocial behaviour including one occcasion when glue was found on the throw line.
The coroner accepted that the council faced a ‘constant battle’ trying to keep safety equipment in place and ruled that Sam’s drowning was an accident.
Another teenage boy, 19-year-old Khizar Hayat, died in the same reservoir four months later after jumping in from a bridge, with an inquest earlier this week ruling misadventure by drowning.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.