A young boy has tragically died after he lost a game of rock, paper, scissors and jumped into a freezing reservoir.
16-year-old Sam Haycock from Rotherham, Yorkshire, was celebrating the end of term with his friends when the tragic incident happened.
According to reports, he drowned in Ulley Reservoir after jumping from a nearby bridge.
Witnesses heard one of the students at the reservoir scream “I’m drowning, I’m drowning,” YorkshireLive reported.
An inquest at Doncaster Coroner’s Court heard that the teen had been diagnosed with autism and other complex medical conditions. He was also unable to swim.
One of the adults who were at the place of the incident, Craig Pennington, 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,” Pennington continued.
“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 realizing the urgency until I got next to the side of the bridge.
“It all happened so quickly.”
The court also heard that one of Sam’s friends, identified as ‘C,’ jumped into the water in an attempt to save his pal but failed to do so.
“We assisted the teenager hanging onto the bridge, (‘C’), and between us we managed to get him out of the water,” Pennington added.
“He kept saying: ‘Where’s my mate, where’s my mate?’”
Conna Lee King, who was 30 meters from the bridge, also said: “I heard one of the teenage voices shouting: ‘I’m drowning, I’m drowning.’”
King said he ran towards the bridge and helped haul ‘C’ out.
“He asked me to go back in for his mate,” King continued. “I replied saying I would go in but I couldn’t swim. It all happened so fast.”
Emergency services arrived at the scene but it was already too take to save Sam.
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