A mother whose teenage son drowned after swimming in a reservoir during hot weather has urged people to stay out of open water, saying she does not want another family to experience the same heartbreak.
Maxine Johnson’s son, Reuben Morgan, was 15 when he died on 17 June 2006 after getting into difficulty while swimming with friends at Pontsticill Reservoir near Merthyr Tydfil.
As Wales and the UK experience a record heatwave, she is urging parents to speak to their children about the risks of swimming in open water, particularly cold water shock., external
“If that can happen to him, it can happen to anybody,” said Johnson, who raises awareness about water safety in schools and community groups.
There were 202 accidental water-related fatalities across the UK in 2025, 85% percent of whom were male, according to the National Water Safety Forum., external The real figure could be higher, however, as a “high number” of water-related deaths were not recorded or inconclusive.
Johnson said her son had been camping with friends when they decided to swim across the reservoir, but he experienced cold water shock when he was most of the way across.
Reuben’s friends, one in particular, “tried their best to help”, Johnson said.
“He told his friend to just go, basically because [Reuben] was dragging him down.”
She said the boys reached the shore before looking back and realising Reuben had disappeared.
A major search operation followed, but it took three days for specialist teams to recover his body.