‘My super fit son drowned swimming in a reservoir during heatwave – I have one thing to tell parents’

It was a phone call Maxine Johnson will never forget.

The charity worker, who was playing in the park with her nine-year-old daughter during the heatwave 20 years ago, received a call to go to Pontsticill Reservoir, where her son Reuben Morgan and friends had gotten into trouble while swimming in the sun.

On arrival he saw a major emergency operation in progress with specialist search teams on the water at the beauty spot in the Brecon Beacons and a helicopter flying in the sky.

“I was told my son was missing,” he said. “My heart sank and I hoped and prayed that he would be found safe and sound. They searched for three days, he was tortured and then they found his body. Words cannot describe it. Our hearts are broken and even today our pain does not subside.”

Reuben, 15, was a fit young man who was a good swimmer, played rugby and went to the gym regularly.

Follow our latest news on weather and warnings here

“That was part of the shock,” he said. “Reuben was extremely fit and someone you would never think would have trouble swimming.”

Such is the danger of cold water shock.

It was later revealed that Reuben, wearing only shorts and camping nearby after finishing his GCSEs, attempted to swim across the reservoir with friends but disappeared three-quarters of the way through.

Now, two decades later, he thinks of his mother when news breaks about the hot-weather tragedy and other teenage deaths in the water.

Four teenagers – three boys and a girl – died in separate water-related incidents over the bank holiday weekend, which saw the UK’s highest ever spring temperature recorded.

On Tuesday, the National Fire Chiefs Council issued a water safety warning for children swimming in rivers, lakes and reservoirs.

“I feel their pain [children’s] “The families,” Ms. Johnson said, “I don’t know the full horror they will experience, but I know the pain and heartbreak. That feeling of shock never leaves you. You would never expect your adult child to drown in water.

“But now that you’ve faced it, you know the dangers of swimming in remote locations. The hidden risk of going into cold water when it’s hot outside. The debilitating effect it has on the body. If my son had it, anyone could do it.”

Ms Johnson, who has led water safety campaigns since her son’s death, says there is something parents can do to reduce the risk to their children.

“Of course, talk to your children first, share the dangers and find out where they are going,” he said. “But I think kids should also be shown the swimming position so they have difficulty in the water. If Reuben had known that, I think he would be here today.”

Last year the RNLI joined forces with Ms Johnson to spread awareness of the life-saving Float to Live technique, which involves tilting one’s head back, moving their hands and legs and trying to relax and help them breathe until the cold water shock wears off.

“If children were taught to swim at school, sharing this technique would save many lives,” says Ms Johnson, managing director of Age Connects Cardiff and Vale.

For now, Reuben’s family are looking forward to the 20 years since his death on June 28, 2006, when they will hold a fundraising social event in Merthyr Tydfil.

“I think about him every day,” Ms. Johnson says. “I don’t want his life to go to waste, I know he would want us to help others.”

Click for more information about the RNLI’s Go Live campaign Here