IF anyone can talk with first-hand authority about the awful waste of young lives lost to drowning, it is Jackie Roberts. Jackie’s daughter Megan drowned in the River Ouse a year ago, after disappearing on a night out with friends at the age of only 20.
Since then, Jackie has campaigned tirelessly for safety improvements on York’s rivers, determined Megan’s death would not be entirely in vain. And she has now been appointed a national ambassador by the Royal Life Saving Society, with whom she did some work last year.
What an excellent appointment. Jackie’s new role will involve liaising with universities and councils, and taking part in videos and speaking to the public.
There will be a particular focus on student safety, following the deaths of Megan and two other young people –18-year-old Tyler Pearson and 22-year-old Ben Clarkson – in York last year, and the drowning of three students in Durham in January.
It takes a special kind of courage for Jackie to be doing what she is. But as she says, it is the kind of work she wants to be doing: her own way of commemorating her daughter’s life. And if anyone can reach out to young people to prevent yet more senseless deaths, it will be Jackie.
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