A teenager jumped into a river to save his struggling friend but could not get to shore and died alongside him, an inquest has heard. The coroner heard how Aras Rudzianskas, 13, and David Ionut Radut, 14, were playing on a rope swing near the River Tyne in Ovingham, Northumberland.
An inquest into their deaths heard how David, who could not swim, let go of the swing too early and landed in a deeper part of the river. He got into difficulty in the water, shouted for help and Aras ran into the water to try and save him, reports ChronicleLive.
Friends Drowned After Rope Swing Accident
Northumberland Coroner's Court heard how David pushed Aras under the water in his panic and they both struggled. Another child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, tried to help David by grabbing his arms. However, they had to let go as they could feel themselves getting into difficulty in the water and swam back to the riverbank.
Assistant Coroner Paul Dunn said something grabbed their leg and they were unsure if it was the current or David. David went under the water and was not seen again and Aras, who was face down in the water with his arms spread, was taken by the current.
Paddleboarder Rescued Aras
Fiona Matthews, who was paddleboarding in the river, found Aras face down in the water. The coroner's court, sitting at County Hall in Morpeth, heard how Fiona came across something which looked like a pale rock and discovered it was Aras' back. She turned him over, pulled him onto her paddleboard and began giving him chest compressions.
She said: "I pulled him under the arms and used his shorts to try and get him out of the water. I think the adrenaline kicked in." Fiona told the hearing how she tried to continue giving chest compressions while paddling towards the river bank. She said: "I had lost my paddle by then so I was using my hands to paddle."
Fiona said she had decided to kneel rather than stand up on her paddleboard that day due to the water not being as flat as it previously was. She managed to get Aras closer to the river bank and paramedics took over in the water.
Aras Died in Hospital Three Days Later
Paramedics managed to get Aras' heart beating again but he was unable to breathe on his own. He was rushed to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle by air ambulance where he died three days later. Police officers from the marine unit continued to search the river for David. His body was found on the bed of the river at 6.30pm that evening and he was taken by ambulance to the RVI.
Detective Sergeant Danielle Grant, of Northumbria Police, requested for the tree branch, which contained the swing, to be cut down the next morning. She told the court: "I was informed an unknown person has gone down and cut down the entire tree."
Group of 20 Children Had Travelled from Newcastle
The court heard how David and Aras, who both lived in Newcastle, were part of a group of around 20 children who travelled to Ovingham from the city on May 18, 2024. They had been at the river less than half an hour when the incident happened. The pair were the first to take turns to use the swing, which was attached to a tree branch, to swing out over the river and back again.
DS Grant said: "Nobody else had got around to having a try because it happened so quickly." When they got into difficulty in the water, some of the children flagged down a bus for help. Northumbria Police received three phone calls about the incident in quick succession.
Witness Describes Panic and Hysteria
Ben Corlett, who was in the area at the time, told the inquest: "There was a lot of panic, a lot of hysteria, crying and shouting. I didn't realise what happened at first. When I saw them run out in front of the bus I thought maybe one of them had been hit."
The first call to police, at 3.29pm, stated that two mates had jumped into Ovingham river and were dead. No further details could be obtained as the caller was so distraught. Two minutes later, a passenger on the bus which had been flagged down by children, reported that someone had drowned. At 3.35pm, a third caller said that two males had drowned. They said one male had been struggling in the water, causing another to help, they had been pulled under.
Family Questions Delay in Notification
David's family asked why they were not notified about the incident until 6.50pm. PC Grant told them that police initially did not know which male was which as the descriptions given of them were similar and they had no belongings on them. Coroner Dunn told the hearing how he was dealing with the inquests as he had previously been the coroner during the inquest of Robert Hattersley, 13, who also drowned in the River Tyne near Ovingham in 2022.
He told the court: "I dealt with the inquest of Robert Hattersley, another young man killed in different circumstances in the same piece of river. I remember sitting with his family and very much hoping I wouldn't have to have another family, families, in front of me again and here are unfortunately with a similar set of circumstances."
The inquest continues.
