Grieving dad revisits site of son's TRAGIC death after 19 people drown during recent heatwave

The Mirror is today launching our 'Save Lives for Sam' campaign to stop the “catastrophic” deaths of 33 children who drown in England every year - “the equivalent of a classroom of children lost’. Drowning in the UK has become an "epidemic" and a "national emergency," campaigners say, as we all join forces today to urge the Government to take urgent action. The UK has seen a horrifying death toll of 19 children and adults killed in water related incidents during one week, in a record-breaking heatwave from May 24th to the 31st. Thirteen of those who died were children and six adults, including a 19-year-old. It is feared cold water shock may have caused many of these deaths. The youngest victim was 11 and the oldest 72. In the year 2024 to 2025, 31 children died from drowning so the UK has already seen almost half of the amount killed the year before - in just one week. It is feared many more could die before the summer holidays, unless something is done now. Bereaved families, The Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK), RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Lee Pitcher MP, the Black Swimming Association (BSA), The National Water Safety Forum, the RNLI and Swim England, have all joined forces with the Mirror. Olympic legends Becky Adlington and Tom Dean have also backed our ‘Save Lives for Sam’ water safety campaign - alongside elite swimmer Michael Gunning. The Mirror Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailymirror The Mirror IG: http://instagram.com/dailymirror The Mirror TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dailymirror The Mirror Twitter: http://twitter.com/DailyMirror The Mirror Homepage: https://www.mirror.co.uk Sign up for our newsletters: https://www.mirror.co.uk/email #TheMirror #swimming #ukpolitics