Mum warns of water peril

WITH TEMPERATURES SET TO RISE, WOMAN TELLS OF HER HEARTBREAK AFTER HER SON DROWNED

- HELENA VESTY & RYAN MERRIFIELD

A HEARTBROKEN mum is desperate for answers after her teenage son drowned at Salford Quays - and has warned people not to go swimming in open water this summer in fear of more tragic deaths.

Vicky Waugh's 16-year-old son Kalen was cooling off with friends at the popular spot among scores of others when he got into trouble last July. Almost a year on, the single parent said her life is on hold as she waits for an inquest due to take place on July 17 - a year and a day after student Kalen died.

She said: "I just don't understand how it happened. There was that many people in the water, I don't understand how he's got into danger without someone noticing and being able to get him."

Vicky is angry that similar tragedies still happen each year - with at least 12 young people dying in rivers and reservoirs across the UK since May 1 already. She has called for the authorities to do more to warn the public about the dangers of open water swimming.