Boy, 10, drowned in river despite his best friend jumping in to try and save him

A 10-year-old boy who couldn’t swim drowned in a Reading river last year despite his best friend jumping in 10 times to try and save him, an inquest heard.

Shadrack Appiah, 10, had been swimming with his friends in the River Kennet near Waterloo Meadows on August 21^st, 2023, when he became submerged by a waterway.

The boy was heard crying out for help by his best friend just after 1.45pm, who dived into the river 10 times to try and save him.

A mother of one of Shadrack’s friends, who arrived shortly after, also jumped into the waterway twice to try and save the young boy.

Berkshire Fire and Rescue firefighters were called to the scene at 2.05pm and managed to find Shadrack in the river within 20 minutes, but he died in the hospital at 3.25pm.

The inquest heard evidence from Shadrack’s swimming teacher, who revealed that he was unable to swim despite having 10 lessons during his time in Year 5 at New Christ Church Primary School.

The boy’s family were ‘inconsolable,’ at the time of his death, said Shadrack’s grand-uncle, Doctor Stephen Appiah.

He added that the family were shocked at the circumstances surrounding the young boy’s death.

Dr Appiah said: ‘Shadrack would never go into a pool.

‘The family tried everything. It just scared him. It especially surprised the family that he died in water, the very thing he was so scared of.’

The inquest heard there were no signs warning of deep water at the part of the river that Shadrack drowned, the Reading Chronicle reported, despite The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents previously recommending them.

Reading Borough Council have now installed warning signs following the incident last year.

Coroner Hannah Godfrey said she was ‘likely’ to find that Shadrack had died as a result of drowning in an instance of misadventure or accident.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: E-bike phone snatcher tracked by police helicopter moments after swiping device

MORE: How to protect yourself on Black Friday after millions lost to online scammers

MORE: Spider smuggler arrested after police found 300 tarantulas strapped to his body