EMOTIONAL videos recounting the day a teenager died while swimming in a Pendle lake have been launched as part of a water safety campaign.
The story of 17-year-old James Goodship’s tragic last hours are being re-told as part of a new educational package called ‘Dying for a Dip’ to try and help prevent further tragedies.
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Colne teenager James died after he got into difficulties whilst riding on a makeshift wooden raft with a group of friends at Lake Burwain in Foulridge on June 22, the start of Drowning Prevention Week.
A few weeks after his funeral his parents approached Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and offered to let his story be used to raise awareness of dangers of swimming in open water.
Yesterday, his family joined firefighters to launch the ‘Dying for a Dip’ educational package at The Citadel in Colne, which is the home of a memorial garden created to celebrate his life.
Two videos have been produced for the campaign which take an emotional look back at what happened that day, one from his family’s point of view and one from that of his friends, one of whom tells how he very nearly drowned along with James.
It is aimed at teens and young adults and hopes to warn young people of the dangers of swimming in open water to try and prevent further tragedies.
James’ mum Mel Goodship said: “It was really difficult to watch the presentation video talking through the events of the day, even though we re-live the events daily and probably will for the rest of our lives.
“We are not naive to think that we can prevent all drownings, but hopefully we can make people think twice about what the water is like which they are entering, and possibly prevent another family going through what we had to.
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The package is currently being delivered in some secondary schools, and is due to be shown at James’s former school, Colne Park High, with the hope of being rolled out to community and youth groups.
James’s death came just four years after 13 year-old Dylan Ramsay died while swimming in a quarry near Whittle-le-Woods, Chorley.
The package is a result of partnership between crew manager Steven Gregory of Nelson, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Corporate Communications, crew manager Paul Rigden of Leyland, RNLI and the United Utilities and Rebecca Ramsay’s ‘Doing it for Dylan’ campaign.
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