Kirsty Walsh: A dip to cool off can have fatal consequences – I know because I lost my husband

A cool dip on a warm day – what’s the worst that could happen?

When the weather is warm our rivers, lakes and quarries start to look like a great way to cool off.

Up and down the country people have been taking a dip to get comfortable.

But this year, like every other, lives have been lost to the water, and that sorry fact is entirely preventable.

In summer, shallow water gets warm enough to be pleasant, but deep water remains stony cold and will sap the strength from even the strongest swimmer in seconds.

Cold-water-shock is real, and it’s an indiscriminate killer.

The tragic case of Rhys Evans at Westport Lake is a high-profile reminder of that danger, but the total number of deaths in water this summer is rising week on week.

Lakes and quarries often have deep, cold clouds and currents offshore.

If you were to wade out you’d quickly leave the relative safety of the warm edges and enter the flows where your heart-rate will rise, your muscles will tire and swimming will become more difficult with every stroke.

But nobody will likely notice somebody in trouble because drowning is a quiet process.

It’s not the splashing and yelling that you may have seen on TV.

It’s more often a fading doggy-paddle, with gulping and, quite quickly, the inability to speak, breathe properly or swim.

This year West Mercia Search and Rescue has been working with the police, fire service, Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Royal Life Saving Society UK to deliver the message about cold-water to the public.

They’ve developed a free online course which has been taken up by more than 2,000 people across the region, and which has started to gain traction in schools.

It’s available to everyone at noriverdeaths.org.uk

It’s an easy message to share for families: if you want to take a dip, stay in the shallows.

Don’t go in to deep water, and never jump straight in to open water.

The consequences of taking that gasp – which we all know from when we accidentally step in to a cold shower – means you’d potentially inhale water and start the drowning process.

Riverside safety patrols by West Mercia SAR this year in Shrewsbury and Ironbridge have tried to share this message with revellers, who are particularly vulnerable to the allure of the water after a few drinks on a warm night.

My husband was lost to the River Severn last year.

Now I have become a water-safety ambassador, with the aim of spreading the message.

I have been working with the charity since the tragic incident last September.

I was struck by the fact that there was a team of volunteers who gave up their time to help search the river, and I credit the team with the early discovery of Shane’s body which allowed police divers to recover him swiftly.

The team kept in contact with me after these sad events and helped me to channel my grief into something positive.

Together we launched the campaign and riverside patrols which are now a familiar sight in our night-time economy.

At first it was a little strange for all involved.

A family member so closely touched by the team’s work had never become involved in direct preventative action before.

But this was quickly replaced by a great feeling of familial support, and I have become a passionate advocate for water safety both to the public and within the team itself.

Since I joined the charity, I have been a regular on patrols in Shrewsbury, and have self-funded talks to local schools and play groups, and attended events in Quarry Park this summer.

The charity is planning on keeping up the patrols for the rest of the year at some of the major events in Shrewsbury, and will be looking to push out to other night-time economies next Christmas.

As a small charity, West Mercia SAR is limited by the availability of its operational members, and is looking for No River Death Champions to take the course and present it to their workmates, children and social clubs.

The free download will run on any PC, Mac, or even on a phone, and makes for a potentially life-saving discussion.

For more information on the charity and its work on water safety see westmerciasar.org.uk