Owen’s Story by Nicola Jenkins - Owen’s Mum
I want you to have an understanding about why and how OWEN Open Water Education Network was founded.
My name is Nicola, I am married to Gary and we have two sons, Jordan and Owen.
If you knew Owen you would say that he was a funny, caring, cheeky (not rude), athletic, family orientated, mummy’s boy who loved playing rugby. A gentle giant, he was well known in the community and loved by everyone who met him. His friends called him Jolly Green Giant, giraffe legs or the BFG (Big Friendly Giant). His electric sense of humour made people smile.
Owen’s passion was playing rugby at Nottingham Casuals Rugby Football Club. From age six he joined the local club and from the first day he was hooked. He loved the mud, the sense of being part of a team and playing alongside his best mate Benjamin, they very quickly became inseparable, hardly ever apart.
At six-foot one inch tall he was a 12-year-old child in the body of an adult. His smile would make your heart melt and his laugh was infectious. He didn’t like confrontation and was often the mediator in disagreements at home and with his friends.
Owen loved his friends and if he was ever late back from school (which was most days) it was because he was walking his friends home making sure they were safe.
On 10th July 2017 the sun was shining and very hot, Owen couldn’t wait to get out to be with his mates. He changed into his new joggers, rolled them up so that they were shorts, popped on a t shirt and was ready for the off.
He gave me a hug and kiss “love you Mum” he grinned racing off out. He never left the house or went to bed without a hug and kiss and a “love you”. His friends would take the mick out of him when they called for him in the mornings as I would call him back if he forgot. His mates would laugh and say “go on Owen give ya mum a kiss” he would reply “shut up” laughing and come back to me. He didn’t care what his mates thought it was just our way. I always said “never leave or go to bed on an argument or bad feelings as you never know what might happen, so always say I love you and hug, it may be the last time you see someone and you don’t want to feel sad that you never told them”. “Behave yourself” I shouted after him.
It was about 5.55pm when Gary and I heard two sets of sirens. They sounded far too close, “what on earth is going off?” I jumped up and ran to the open front door but couldn’t see which way they had gone, I suddenly felt very strange like something was wrong. I asked Gary to ring Owen and check if he was alright – no answer. I told Gary to keep trying as the feeling I had was that it was Owen. “I will go and have a look”, I grabbed my keys and headed off in the car down the street. I had this really awful sick feeling that the ambulances were for Owen, but didn’t know why. As I arrived at the canal gates, I could see a paramedic car and an ambulance parked outside them. My heart dropped, I felt really sick and my heart started to race. Mother’s instinct? I ran as fast as I could towards the weir which was over two footbridges. As I arrived at the weir field recreation ground the air ambulance landed on the field and quickly took off again following the river Trent towards Nottingham. Why was it leaving? My initial thought was that Owen had been climbing the trees and fallen injuring himself. How wrong was I. As I got to the top of the slope, I saw one of Owen’s friends, she was soaking wet, crying and shaking in shock.
I screamed at her “What’s happened? Where’s Owen?” She shook her head in the same moment her mum ran up the slope to us shouting and crying “Nicola it’s your boy, he’s in the water and they can’t find him”. That’s when my whole world fell apart. Have you ever felt dizzy, sick, your heart racing and got wobbly legs? Well that’s how I felt like my world was spinning and I couldn’t stop it. I started shouting NO NO NO and then his name, I ran down the slope towards the water and screamed his name. Owen’s friend’s mum grabbed me as I tried to get into the water and hugged me tight.
One of the girls had ran to fetch Gary who ran from home to me. I was frantically shouting Owens name and when Gary arrived I just screamed at him that Owen was in the water and they couldn’t find him. At that moment I remember Gary screaming out his name. I’ve never seen Gary so scared tears streaming down his face, sheer panic and he felt helpless.
Throughout the four hours Gary and I were there being supported by family and friends. Our older son Jordan lives in Mansfield forty minutes away and I needed him to know before he heard it on the news. It seemed like minutes and he was there, he was so emotional and angry and couldn’t cope so went into the middle of the field and broke down thumping the floor and screaming. He didn’t want anyone near him but wanted everyone near him, he wanted to be held but for no one to touch him, he wanted to ask questions but didn’t want answers. Jordan was broken and I couldn’t heal him, I couldn’t comfort or hug him because he wouldn’t let anyone. He was scared and I couldn’t help him, I didn’t have the answers.
I can’t remember much of what happened that night but I do remember seeing many different emergency services coming and going. The air ambulance left and the Police helicopter arrived, it also followed the flow of the river to see if they could spot him. They were using the loudspeaker saying Owen’s name and telling the people in the water who were looking for Owen to get out. The police kept asking if Owen could be hiding in the farmer’s fields or go home so that he wouldn’t get into trouble as everyone was looking for him. That wasn’t Owen, he would be too scared to hide and wouldn’t let me, his family or friends be so upset. He would come and face the music.
So many people turned out to help look for Owen, the field and the paths were full of people who knew him and people who didn’t, shouting his name and asking where they should look. People searched the fields, walked along the river paths looking in all the nooks and crannies in case he had washed up and was hurt and some even entered the water and walked the edges of the river, they were looking on both sides. The news that a 12-year-old boy was missing in the river swept the city and everyone was out looking for him.
We were assigned a Police Liaison Officer called Simon and his partner a Community Support Officer called Paula. Why? I’ve seen cop shows and you get a liaison officer when someone has died or been murdered, Owen was missing not dead.
So many friends and family came and sat with us, we were not allowed near the water so sat near the football changing room steps on the floor on cushion’s that were in the back of my brother’s van.
Time moved slowly but so fast. It was around 9.45pm when Simon came to tell us that we should maybe go home as the mosquitos were starting to come out and the light was fading. He said they would be scaling down the search however the police underwater search team would continue as long as they could. If they didn’t find Owen that night they would start again at first light.
All our family were there, we didn’t want to leave without finding Owen. Simon walked away and quickly returned with the sergeant in charge of the incident and that’s when the news we didn’t want to hear came.
“Gary, Nicola can I speak to you privately?” We walked about two steps towards him, “just tell us” but I could tell by his face this was not going to be good news. “We’ve found Owen” “He’s gone, hasn’t he?” was all I could scream. He answered but I didn’t hear him, I didn’t have to hear it, he didn’t have to answer I could tell in his eyes. They had found Owen’s body in the place where the girls had seen him go under. He hadn’t travelled down the river as the girls had said he had, he had drowned, our boy had gone forever. That very quick conversation makes me cry every time I tell anyone or write it down. I get those feelings and I don’t want to believe it even to this day.
We had so many questions about what had happened, was he playing in the weir? Was he messing around? Had he got hurt and fallen in? Why would he go in the water to swim, he wasn’t confident in water? He could swim but was always scared he would get into difficulty. “Don’t let anyone see him, I need to see him first”. They were very considerate and empathetic as they took Owen out of the water on the opposite side of the river so the media, public, family and friends could not see him. I didn’t want the papers to take photos of him, he’s my baby and he needs his mummy.
Simon and Paula took Gary and I back to the house. The detectives came to ask questions and to see if we needed anything and explaining what would happen next. That’s when they said we would have to identify Owen. What? How? All I could think of was the shows on TV, would he be in another room? Would we be able to hold him and kiss him? Would he be injured? Unrecognisable? Broken?
We saw Owen and cried more tears than I thought was even possible. From that moment I knew I could never let my boy be forgotten.
How OWEN Open Water Education Network Was Founded
Within days of Owen passing we were contacted by the local council and asked to attend a meeting to discuss what could be done to help us. We met with the local councillors, police, environment agency, canals and river trust and Broxtowe Borough Council Chief Executive Ruth Hyde and that’s when it was decided that the weir needed some form of signage/ warnings/ prevention methods. It was suggested a water safety programme would be created in Owen’s name. We discussed the safety at the weir and noted that there were no signs or barriers to stop people from getting on the steps. We talked about different types of barriers, signs and aids to stop and help people. This took many weeks to decide but the work was completed quickly once everyone agreed. The raised Grass area overlooking the weir very quickly became known as ’OWENS PLACE’.
I was at Owen’s Place one day after his funeral when I just thought OWEN O-Open W-Water E-Education but couldn’t think of anything for ‘N’. I rang my sister Michelle and she said Network because it would be a network of people spreading Owen’s story. OWEN Open Water Education Network was created.
And then the hard work started. Whilst still in the depths of grief I met Hannah, who works for Broxtowe Borough Council at Liberty Leisure. She was asked to work with me to help me create some awareness around water, an education programme for children and adults. But how would we do it? How would we make it sustainable? Who would deliver the programme? That’s when we were introduced to Dean from Nottingham Fire and Rescue education team. Dean knew his stuff the guru of technology he helped and guided us to create a programme that would do just what we wanted and more. He was so computer savvy that he blew our minds and created a package that would become OWEN 1.
We worked together to create an exciting and educational programme that was suitable for children in senior school. We all felt that this was the age to target as that is the age Owen was and they are often out and about without adult supervision.
Owen’s story is different to others. We use his story as ‘what not to do’. He didn’t know what to do when the girls got into difficulty. He thought that he was helping by going in the water to save them. Had Owen and the girls known this then Owen might be here today.
There were lots of discussions about how we would deliver the programme. I knew I wanted the children involved and that Owens close friends needed something that they could do to help them remember Owen and educate others about water safety. I needed the programme to be accessible to everyone so we decided that the programme would be on land and no water involved.
We created Ambassadors in Owen’s senior school in 2018 to help deliver the Owen programme peer to peer. That was two years ago and since then we have grown in strength. We now have three senior schools enrolled and thirty Ambassadors.
We run monthly workshops to work on the water safety modules that the programme covers, making them competent and confident educators. Owen’s name is mentioned every day. We speak about all the fun times we had and what we got up to. He was part of so many people’s lives and they all have funny memories. We all miss his laugh, it was irresistible.
I will continue my son’s legacy and educate as many people in different areas about how to stay safe around open water.
Owen’s name will live on in - OWEN Open Water Education Network.
