Swansea boy Kane Edwards’ body trapped under water by tree, inquest told

A 13-year-old boy’s body was found trapped under water by a tree after he got into difficulty while swimming in a river with a friend, an inquest has heard.

Kane Edwards died in the River Tawe just outside Swansea Enterprise Park in May 2022.

PC Richard Petherbridge of South Wales Police said emergency services carried out a “frantic” 45-minute search, but the “extremely fast-running” and “murky” water made it impossible to save him.

A small boat was used to reach the centre of the river, where Kane’s body was recovered, the inquest in Swansea heard.

The court heard Kane and his friend were first seen paddling by two passers-by, who did not pay them much attention as it was something a lot of teenagers do.

A short time later, Matthew Altarno said one boy ran up looking upset and told him: “Have you seen my friend? He’s gone under the water and not come up.”

He called the emergency services but said the water was “too dark” to see through and was told to keep others out.

PC Petherbridge said he moved towards the centre of the river but did not go in because he knew “the current under the water was running faster than on the surface”.

A police helicopter was called, but the search was kept small as Kane was unlikely to have drifted far.

The officer said fire crews also struggled in the fast-flowing water, with some nearly being swept away.

A member of the fire service went under the water and re-emerged saying that he had located a “tree on the bottom of the river pinning the boy under it”.

The court heard that a shoe emerged and there was a shout from the river bank where Kane’s family had gathered, saying that it was Kane’s shoe.

A post mortem examination found that Kane’s death was consistent with drowning.

The court heard that it was Kane’s idea to go to the river where there were three rock weirs and pools with deeper water.

The other boy said the water was “freezing”, with the pathologist suggesting he would have gone into “hypo shock”.

He told investigators that he was carried downstream by the current and that the same would usually have happened to Kane.

But he appeared to “have his foot trapped” and the other boy could see Kane’s head going under the water.

Welsh Ambulance Service call handler Hannah Stanley told the inquest it was not initially easy to identify the precise location of the incident.

The link to ‘what3words’ – an app which pinpoints your exact position with just three unique words – did not work when she sent it.

She continued to work to identify the location and analysis of the call was compliant with the relevant standards, she said.

The coroner heard evidence from fire service personnel and the NHS Area Response Team about how they searched the three different pools in the area.

When Kane was located all efforts were concentrated on one location to recover him.

When he was taken to the shore advanced methods of resuscitation were used, but the coroner was told Kane never recovered.

The inquest continues.