A hero schoolboy died as he tried to rescue three other youngsters who plunged into a freezing cold lake, his devastated family have said. Jack Johnson bravely rushed to help the children after he heard them screaming from the water.
However, the 10-year-old got into difficulty and tragically drowned alongside two other victims, aged 11 and eight. A third child, aged just six, remains in critical condition in hospital.
It is understood that they are all members of the same family. The eldest has since been named locally as Thomas, the Mirror reports.
Jack’s aunt Charlotte McIlmurray said he instinctively tried to save the children after one of them fell through the ice.
Posting to Facebook, she wrote: “The 10-year-old boy is my nephew. He seen one go through the ice and he ran an tried to save them.
“Our prayers and thoughts are with the other family. We are just broken over it.
“To find out he died trying to save 3 lads he didn’t even know, that just sums him up. He was amazing.”
Jack’s horrified family members raced at the scene as fire crews desperately tried to rescue the youngsters. Grieving relatives and friends have left dozens of floral tributes beside the lake in Kingshurst, Solihull.
One heartbreaking note was left be a classmate of the 11-year-old victim, named locally as Thomas. It read: “To my friend Thomas. Thanks for being there for me when I was sad.
“Thanks for lending me your jacket when I was cold. You were like a brother to me. I miss you so much.”
Friends said Thomas was a student at the Park Hall Academy in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham. Posting to Twitter, the school wrote: “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved and our local community at this extremely difficult time.
“Please rest assured that anyone affected will be supported.”
Thomas was the first boy to be pulled out of the water. Local resident Katie O’Driscoll, 32, said: “He was 11 and the first to be pulled from the lake but he has passed away.
“I heard that the others went in to try and rescue him. It’s really hard to imagine what those parents are going through.”
Jack is understood to have been a pupil at St Anthony’s Roman Catholic Primary School. It was closed yesterday.
Marcus Brain, chair of the school’s board of governors, said: “One of our children has passed away. I’ve spoken to the family. The staff are absolutely devastated.
"The lad was a lovely boy. Everyone is in bits. We’re all in shock.”
While visiting the lake today, Jack’s dad Kirk Johnson and mum Kerry McIlmurray were comforted by relatives. One family member wrote on Facebook: “Life really can get taken away at any moment.
“Hug your little and loved ones that extra bit tighter tonight. Absolutely devastated for my family.”
Another relative posted: “Seriously, no-one knows when it’s the last time you will see someone. Life’s too short, real short.”
And another family member wrote: “Heartbroken. Time to stick together as a family now.”
Jack’s aunt Charlotte McIlmurray said he instinctively tried to save the children after one of them fell through the ice. The tragedy unfolded on Sunday afternoon as the youngsters walked on the ice at Babbs Mill Lake. Local resident Dan Hall said a young sister of one of the boys witnessed the tragedy and other relatives desperately tried to help.
The shocked 38-year-old ran to the scene after hearing a commotion from his nearby home. Speaking to the Mirror, he said: “On the way down to the lake I met a teenage girl on a bike who said that some kids had got into trouble on the ice.
“She was a relative. She’d come down to help and met up with a younger girl who was hysterical saying, ‘My brother, my brother’. The teenage girl was trying to comfort her younger cousin and saying it was going to be alright.
“But she had only just arrived and the younger girl had seen what had happened. They must have been in the water for 15 minutes. It was a further 20 minutes before they were being brought up on stretchers.
“You looked at what was happening and knew deep down that they were struggle to make it. I saw one child who was clearly dead.
“It was just harrowing. Some people were very brave and the emergency services were amazing. They were wheeling them up and they were still pumping the kids on the stretchers.”
Firefighters who took part in the rescue operation visited a makeshift shrine next to the lake on Monday to pay their respects. The men, from Sheldon Red Watch, were applauded by locals as they placed a floral tribute and bowed their heads.
