'My son tried to call me - I rang him back and he was no longer alive'

Standing in the queue at the post office, Leeane realised she had a missed call from her son. She tried to call him back but it was sadly too late.

Mark Allen was just 18 when he went swimming with his friends at the Gorton reservoir, enjoying the summer sun. But, dangers were lurking beneath the water and his body succumbed to the freezing temperatures

Today, Leeanne Bartley is tirelessly campaigning alongside Water Safety Wales for others to stay safe around the sea, rivers and other open water after statistics showed a rise in accidental drowning deaths involving people aged under 20 for a second year running.

READ MORE: The 'typical' thing inspiring teacher Kate Rackham did amid her tragic death

Seven people under 20 died in accidental water-related fatalities in Wales in 2023 – the highest number since comparable data became available from the National Water Safety Forum’s Water Incident Database (WAID) in 2015.

Since her son's death, she has campaigned for better water safety measures in Wales and across the UK, including the petitions calling for rescue equipment to be mandatory, WalesOnline reports.

Recounting the worst day of her life, she said: "I got a phone call to basically say he was missing. And that was it.

"I didn't have a clue what was going on. And I said - missing, like, how, as nobody knew what had happened. It wasn't until some time after that when I spoke to Mark's dad, and a police officer came on the phone and that's how I found out. We just all got into the car and headed up to Manchester.

"We had originally arranged for Mark to come down later on that week, as his accident happened on the Tuesday, and he was supposed to be coming down to stay at ours for a few days on the Friday so it changed