A CHORLEY mum has launched a petition for the government to adopt a nationwide scheme to raise awareness of the dangers of water.

Rebecca Ramsay lost her son Dylan, 13, when he went for a dip with two friends at Hill Top Quarry in Whittle-le-Woods, in July 2011 and he got into difficulties.

This year would have been his 21st birthday in October and now she has launched an online petition to try to warn teenagers about water safety.

She said: “No mum should have to go through what I had to.

“And it is my personal goal to try to ensure that no more mums have to do it.

“We are seeing these tragedies time and again I think there have been 5000 people who have died in water since Dylan died.

“It is time for the government to take action and try to raise awareness about it.”

Beckie has been visiting schools around Chorley spreading the word but believes more should be done.

She has created the petition “Water safety/drowning prevention & effects of cold water to be taught in schools” and so far has more than 1,200 signatures but needs another 8,900 for the government to respond to it.

Beckie claims that in 2016 there was the launch of the first-ever water safety strategy and there are aims to reduce fatalities by 50 per cent by 2026.

Now she is calling for it to be part of the national curriculum.

She said: “The first time I heard the words “cold water shock” was when I was looking up how my physically fit son could have died.

“I have been learning about how to protect yourself if you get into difficulty.

“If you can manage to stay calm for one to three minutes and bypass the hyperthermia then you give yourself a better chance of surviving.

“Then I think they need to be taught about the dangers in two times of the year - summer and winter.

“I am hopeful that I can get the support I need as I have had a family bereavement so have not fully committed to promoting it but it has achieved more than 1000 in three weeks.

“The petition will close in August so I want to get as many people as possible to sign up and support us.”

n You can sign the petition by visiting the website: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/213172