Boy, 10, who was terrified of being drowned in river water despite his best friend diving in 10 times to save him, inquest hears

A 10-year-old boy drowned in a river despite the best efforts of his best friend, who dived ten times to save him, an inquest heard.

Shadrack Appiah died while in the water with friends in the River Kennet near Waterloo Meadows, Reading.

Reading Coroner’s Court heard Shadrack called for help after falling into the water at around 1.45pm on August 21 last year.

Firefighters arrived on the scene within 20 minutes, but Shadrack sadly died at 3.25pm ​​after being rushed to Royal Berkshire Hospital.

Shadrack was afraid of water and could not swim despite having ten lessons at school, the inquest heard.

But the river bend where he drowned is known to look deceptively shallow enough to walk through, fire officials said.

After Shadrack’s best friend, whose name has not been released, jumped in 10 times in an attempt to save him, the mother of one of his friends dove into the water twice in a failed attempt to save the boy.

Shadrack Appiah died after being pulled from a river near Reading, despite the best efforts of his best friend who dove in ten times in an attempt to save him

An inquest found there were no signs warning of the water depths of the River Kennet near Waterloo Meadows

Shadrack’s uncle, Dr Stephen Appiah, said his family was shocked by the circumstances surrounding his death as he ‘would never enter a swimming pool’.

“The family was particularly surprised that he died in the water, which is exactly what he was so afraid of,” he said.

The inquest found there were no signs warning of deep water in the part of the river where the boys were playing. Read chronicle reported, despite previously being recommended in a review by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

As a result of the incident, Reading Borough Council has installed warning signs near the river at Waterloo Meadows, assistant director of environmental services Christopher Wheeler confirmed.

Coroner Hannah Godfrey said she would ‘probably’ find that Shadrack had died as a result of drowning in a misadventure or accident.

The investigation was expected to be completed last Friday.