On 24th August I will be facing the pain of having my arms, legs back and chest waxed and raising money for OWEN Open Water Education Network in memory of my 12 year old son Owen Jenkins who saved his friend from drowning but lost his own life.

That Day

On 10.07.2017 my world fell apart, my son Owen Jenkins lost his life.

The day started normally, I came home from work and was chilling on the sofa. Nicola and I heard sirens very close She said something has happened and I feel that it's Owen she asked me to ring him but there was no answer, she went to see what was happening.

The next thing I know is a young girl at the door screaming for me to go to the river as they couldn't find Owen.

I ran all the way and as I got there the area was full of firefighters, police, air ambulance, ambulances and the police helicopter.

What happened next will forever be a memory I wish I never had.

My youngest son was missing in the river and everyone was looking for him.

We quickly found out that 2 of Owen's friends had been swimming in he river and got into difficulty, Owen being the son he was saw his friends in trouble and thought he had no option other than to go in to save them, a choice he made that broke my heart into pieces.

Owen had saved his friend who was drowning, he carried her back to the weir steps, and when he went in for the other girl, he went under and didn't resurface.

At that moment, my world fell apart. My boy was missing the police wouldn't let me search for him and everything was like a whirlwind that I couldn't get out of.

For 4 very long hours the emergency services and people searched for Owen,

at 10 pm he was found by the Police dive team. I knew he had gone but hoped he had got out and was injured or hiding but he hadn't.

From that moment on my life would never be the same. I have struggled to come to terms with loosing my son in such a public way, and as a man you feel you have to be the strong stoic one that keeps going and not show emotion,.

I have put all my energy into working so that my mind doesn't have to think about it.

My wife Nicola runs a water safety education programme in our sons name OWEN Open Water Education Network.

I support Nicola any way I can and working full time means we have finances so she can spend time going to schools and commjnity groups to educate others about the dangers of open water, how to self rescue and what to do in an emergency.

I'm not a talker or a sharer but Nicola is a natural and I'm so proud she can share Owen's story to help others understand more about thr dangers of open water.

The funds raised will go towards buying throw lines to leave at schools that Nicola attends so that they can continue to practice life saving skills, to create educational packages and keep OUR SONS legacy alive.

Please visit our website for more information

www.owen7.org.uk

Our son our HERO