Mother's warning to others over son's Jubilee River drowning

Michael Scaife drowned after jumping into the river with two friends

The mother of a man who drowned in a river five years ago has urged others to stay away from open water during hot weather.

Michael Scaife, 20, died after going to the aid of a friend in the Jubilee River in Datchet, Berkshire, in August 2015.

His mother, Sonia Scaife, has joined Slough Borough Council's campaign to help warn people of the dangers.

She said she hoped "something positive" could come from her son's death.

'I couldn't save him'

"The first we knew anything was wrong was when we were going through a supermarket checkout after doing the weekly shop," Mrs Scaife said.

"I answered the phone to an unknown number... it was a police officer telling me Michael was missing.

"We went to the river near The Myrke... His friend said, 'That's Michael's mum', and came over and hugged me and said, 'Sorry, I couldn't save him'."

The bridge over the Jubilee River in Datchet was renamed after Mr Scaife's death and is now known as 'Michael's Bridge'

Mr Scaife was due to become a mentor with The Prince's Trust when he died.

"We will never know how many people Michael's story may save just by changing their minds about going into open bodies of water," Mrs Scaife said.

A year after her son's death, she said a colleague had told her he was already "saving lives".

'Cold water shock'

"Her son had told friends, who wanted to go for a swim in a river, about his mum's friend whose son died and they didn't go in," she said.

"It made me feel happy in a way, it was comforting that something positive had come out of Michael's story."

Natasa Pantelic, of Slough Borough Council, said: "It is a man-made river where the sides are very steep and the water is deep and very cold, even on the hottest days, which can lead to people going into cold water shock and trouble, very quickly."

Three years after Mr Scaife's death, 17-year-old Dajarn Daly and Nayeeb Ullah Naizai, 22, died within weeks of each other in the Jubilee River.

Since their deaths the Environment Agency has placed additional warning signs on either side of the river urging people to stay out.

On Friday, a second man died after two men got into difficulty in the River Thames in Cookham on Tuesday.