Shrewsbury river tragedy: Life-saving role for widow Kirsty

Kirsty Walsh was married to 29-year-old Shane Walsh, who fell into the river at Frankwell, Shrewsbury, on September 3 last year.

Mrs Walsh has now become the ambassador for West Mercia Search and Rescue team and its new campaign 'Home and Dry – No More River Deaths'.

She went on river patrol as a Christmas safety crackdown managed to steer 12 high-risk people away from the river during the festive period.

Mrs Walsh has worked with West Mercia Search and Rescue over the festive period to dissuade revellers from going near the river in Shrewsbury.

She said it was difficult to talk about what happened to Mr Walsh, but she said working with the search and rescue team was rewarding, and she was “honoured” to be asked to be an ambassador.

“It was hard as it’s difficult and it’s awkward to talk to people about what happened, but at the same time it made me feel close to Shane as well,” she said.

“If we can spare one family from having to go through it then that’s a positive, really.

“West Mercia SAR asked me to be the ambassador.

“The team are very supportive and I like having something to do so I was really honoured to be asked to do that as they’ve not had anybody before.

“I’ll be supporting them when they have talks and do educational visits with them to talk to people.”

Mr Walsh’s body was recovered from the water on September 6, after six days of searching by specialist teams.

The inquest held into his death heard that Mr Walsh had an alcohol blood level of 196 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

It was told the drink drive limit is 80 millilitres. The doctor said that as the post mortem had not been carried out for a number of days, the level could have been 50 above or below that figure at the time of his death. Andy MacAuley, West Mercia SAR chairman, said that during its Christmas and New Year campaign the teams spoke to hundreds of riverside revellers, including about 12 people who were assessed as “high risk” near the water.

He said: “West Mercia Search and Rescue conducted five nights of safety patrols between 8pm and 1am.

“We spoke to hundreds of riverside revellers, and handed out about 800 awareness postcards.

“We intercepted around a dozen people who we assessed as high risk near the water, including one gent who was stood up to his ankles in the river to go to the toilet.

“We certainly made sure that they were safe and steered them away from the flooded edge.”

Mr MacAuley said that one person was contemplating entering the river deliberately, but the SAR team managed to talk them around.

“We are hugely thankful to the public for their support, and for sharing the appeal. It was seen by over 165,000 on Facebook alone.

“We have now launched a year-long campaign called ‘Home and Dry – No More River Deaths’ which will see us provide training, education and information online and at events. We are in talks with West Mercia Police to maximise the effectiveness of this campaign, and will be looking for local business sponsors.”

The new campaign will be rolled out across other riverside towns in West Mercia’s area to reduce the number of water deaths, raise awareness, provide training and information, and recommend safety products across the region.

West Mercia SAR will work with the emergency services, sponsors and other charities, including Team Shrewsbury, made up of fire crews, police, councils and other agencies to improve river safety.

PC Kevin Roberts, part of Team Shrewsbury, said that before Christmas three rescue stations were installed in Shrewsbury, costing the organisation more than £1,000.

He said: “We’ve trained 40 local door staff members in river safety and installed three new rescue stations.

“Each rescue station contains two life jackets each and two throw lines.

“It’s a proactive approach to safety. Team Shrewsbury also go with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to all the festivals and events in the town.

“Shrewsbury is an island, we’re surrounded by water, as the night time economy increases we need to make more and more people aware of the dangers, especially people who visit the town and don’t know it as well as others.

“We will be at the Shropshire Kids Festival in Shrewsbury’s Quarry, Shrewsbury River Festival, Shrewsbury Food Festival and we’ll continue with the Respect the Water campaign throughout the year.”

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service will also be focusing on river safety campaigns throughout the year.

James Bainbridge, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service station manager in the prevention department, said: “Water safety has always been an issue from the fire and rescue service’s point of view.

“We do work in conjunction with Severn Area Rescue Association, we also have contacts with the Royal Lifesaving Society.

“We focus on two campaigns, one in June, a drowning prevention one, and one in December, the Don’t Drink and Drown campaign.

“The summer is a time we focus on because of the risk of people entering the water to cool off.

“In the winter it’s more likely to be accidents with people entering the water or slipping in.

“Statistics show that’s a particular issue in the winter months.”

The fire service has worked with the Street Pastors and door staff for a number of years and also sends an outreach vehicle to events.

Mr Bainbridge added: “Over a number of years we’ve been active in training the Street Pastors and licensed door staff on water rescue techniques.”