Cold Water Shock - When Fun Turns Fatal

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, a phone call to say their child is missing in water.

Sadly, this is what happened to the parents of Jack Lloyd in April 2025.

Jack was with friends at Crown Lakes near Peterborough, but tragically struggled in the water after jumping in. His body went into cold water shock as soon as he hit the water.

He went under the water and devastatingly, didn't resurface.

This film tells the story, with his father Darren giving a heartbreaking account of the impact the incident has had on him and his family. Fire and police officers also talk about the impact of these incidents, as well as giving advice about what to do to stay safe around open water...

Statistics show that child drowning deaths in England have doubled since 2019-20. Between April 2019 and March 2024, a total of 165 children lost their lives to drowning.

Our crews attended 38 water rescues last year (between April 2025 and March 2026), including the tragic incident involving Jack Lloyd. That compares with 32 the previous year and a five-year average of 34.

There were nine in-water deaths, compared with seven the previous year.

Teenagers aged between 13 and 17 have the highest drowning rate of any age group.

Teachers and educators

We are hoping you will show our film to your students, either in class or during an assembly.

Notes to use in these lessons, to help with discussion and learning points to cover, can be found in the document below.

• Teaching notes - PDF file