A devastated mum in Fife fears her son drowned after sleepwalking to his death during a Loch Lomond camping trip.
Michael Stewart, 27, from Kirkcaldy was spending time on the shores of Inversnaid with two of his brothers when he died on June 3.
Siblings Ryan and Shaun fought to save Michael, but the popular university student from Fife tragically passed away at around 8.40am, reports the Record.
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Michael's mum Nicky, 52, said that her son couldn't swim and was known to sleepwalk. She believes he may not have been fully aware of his actions and could have walked out of his tent and into the water.
The mum-of-seven said: "Michael couldn’t swim. He wasn’t keen on the water and he wouldn’t just go in, but he was a sleepwalker. You hear about things like this happening, but you never expect it to happen to you.
"My other boys haven’t really spoken about what happened yet and I haven’t pressured them to tell me. They’ll speak about it when they’re ready, but they did try to save him.
"I just can’t believe it. It doesn’t feel real."
Nicky has now vowed to raise water safety awareness. She continued: "Everybody thinks Loch Lomond is so beautiful, but the police told me there are big dips in it.
"You’ll be paddling in quite a shallow bit and then all of a sudden you’re properly in the water.
"I just want people to be careful near water because I don’t want another parent to have to go through this."
Nicky added that her family has been left completely devastated by the loss of Michael, who was studying ethical hacking at university in Dundee.
She said: "Michael was an angel and he had a beautiful smile.You could ask him to do anything for you and he would. He was very polite and respectful to everyone.
"He liked to hang out with his four brothers and was very close to them. I feel like someone has put a knife in my heart and they’re not taking it out. The only thing that’s keeping me going is my other kids.”
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In December 2011, a woman in America reportedly drowned in a lake after sleepwalking from her home. The body of Charlene Ferrero, 55, was discovered in Newton Lake in New Jersey with her death ruled an accidental drowning.
Her friends told local news outlets she had been found sleepwalking outside her home just a week before the tragic accident.
In 2015, Marie Lord, almost drowned after sleepwalking more than half a mile from her home into the sea at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
The then 39-year-old woke up with the taste of salt and grit in her mouth before managing to scale some nearby rocks where she shouted for help. A hotel night porter near the beach heard her cries and called 999.
Michael's family, including siblings Jodie, Jenna, Zander, Beano, Shaun and Ryan, will lay him to rest on July 4 at St Marie's R.C. Church in Kirkcaldy.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 8.40am on Saturday, 3 June, 2023 we were called to Loch Lomond, near Inversnaid, to a report of a man in the water.
“Emergency services attended and the 27-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is not suspicious and a report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal.”
