No more lives lost to ducklington lake!!
No more lives lost to ducklington lake!!
The Issue
- On the 18th of July 2021 my beautiful daughter Nicole lost her life at ducklington lake in Witney. Nicole was there with her little sister, my friend,her 2 sons,and 2 other adult friends (so the children were supervised) she was holding hands with her sister and a friend in no more than waist deep water close to the bank edge and the floor that was there had broken away and Nicole and the others went down! Nicole tried her hardest and from underneath the water she kept her younger sisters head above the water to save her until her sister was pulled from the water.
- No one could get Nicole out and she was pulled by the current, emergency services searched for 25 minutes until they found my baby girl ( from what we know she was found on one of the ledges at a depth of around 30 feet ) but it was to late.
- The hospital tried for 2hrs with me and her dad with her but at that point there was nothing more they could do for Nicole and just like that she was gone!
- All he dreams and plans for her future…all the memories we was yet to make together as a family…her prom…her first job…her first baby…her happily ever after…all these moments she will never be able to experience now…how can this be right??
- A beautiful talented and caring 13 year old girl…a daughter, sister, auntie, niece, granddaughter and friend…for all the things she was and all the things she could have been we are truly broken! There really is no words to describe how,as her mum I feel and knowing I will never get another hug, kiss, smile, sassy remark or strop when she feels it’s needed…ever again!!
- Ducklington Lake is a flooded quarry/gravel pit dug initially for gravel used whilst constructing the Witney bypass (A40) in the mid 1980’s.
- As this is a disused quarry pit the ground that people stand on and that Nicole was on at the time can be there one min and gone the next due to erosion to the clay/gravel, the water and the fact that the part that many families paddle in is waist high and as the floor is covered with pebbles after continuous use from people in certain parts and the erosion there is no saying at which point that particular piece will give way from under you….that is where the danger and health and safety of the public comes into it and that is where my poor girl stood when the floor went!
- The danger is that this could happen to anyone and at any point!
- Nicole is one of many people that lost there life at this lake! We have lived here 10 years and have never known of any deaths or that this is not a natural lake. The information regarding the deaths is not accessible easily! If myself her dad or had been aware of the dangers of the floor, pollution and many other things we wouldn’t never had agreed to the girls going and this is something that allot of people who have contacted me since Nicole’s death are also unaware of!
- For years family’s have visited the lake and taken taken children into the water in a area that they perceived as safe!
- I have contacted Witney town council and have not been given answers to basic information like the deaths, the floor safety, what is in the lake or the actual depth, things like basic water checks they have no records for….this is should be standard information and yet they have no answers as they do not check the health and safety of this lake!
- This is not a natural lake and is extremely deep and deadly. There are parts that are controlled by a very cold and very strong current that runs at the bottom….and Witney town council have no idea how deep down this goes…what is in the lake…the pollution that is in the water? I have been told since the have started digging and asking around that there is a construction type vehicle at the bottom amount many other things!!
- so I’m asking if you can support my fight to get ducklington lake dredged and filled so no one else has to lose a loved one in such a sudden and tragic way!
- Nicole was all about others and had spoke to us about organ donation and how she believed in this and we respected her wish and now she will be able to save other children as she would have wanted! So to get this lake filled and be able to stop other children losing there precious lives I know this is the right thing thing to do and Nicole would have agreed if it had been someone she had known!
- By getting the lake filled my beautiful baby girl’s death would not be in vain!
- we will do this for you Nicole!!
- XOX we will love you forever XOX
Amanda HolmesPetition Starter
679
The Issue
- On the 18th of July 2021 my beautiful daughter Nicole lost her life at ducklington lake in Witney. Nicole was there with her little sister, my friend,her 2 sons,and 2 other adult friends (so the children were supervised) she was holding hands with her sister and a friend in no more than waist deep water close to the bank edge and the floor that was there had broken away and Nicole and the others went down! Nicole tried her hardest and from underneath the water she kept her younger sisters head above the water to save her until her sister was pulled from the water.
- No one could get Nicole out and she was pulled by the current, emergency services searched for 25 minutes until they found my baby girl ( from what we know she was found on one of the ledges at a depth of around 30 feet ) but it was to late.
- The hospital tried for 2hrs with me and her dad with her but at that point there was nothing more they could do for Nicole and just like that she was gone!
- All he dreams and plans for her future…all the memories we was yet to make together as a family…her prom…her first job…her first baby…her happily ever after…all these moments she will never be able to experience now…how can this be right??
- A beautiful talented and caring 13 year old girl…a daughter, sister, auntie, niece, granddaughter and friend…for all the things she was and all the things she could have been we are truly broken! There really is no words to describe how,as her mum I feel and knowing I will never get another hug, kiss, smile, sassy remark or strop when she feels it’s needed…ever again!!
- Ducklington Lake is a flooded quarry/gravel pit dug initially for gravel used whilst constructing the Witney bypass (A40) in the mid 1980’s.
- As this is a disused quarry pit the ground that people stand on and that Nicole was on at the time can be there one min and gone the next due to erosion to the clay/gravel, the water and the fact that the part that many families paddle in is waist high and as the floor is covered with pebbles after continuous use from people in certain parts and the erosion there is no saying at which point that particular piece will give way from under you….that is where the danger and health and safety of the public comes into it and that is where my poor girl stood when the floor went!
- The danger is that this could happen to anyone and at any point!
- Nicole is one of many people that lost there life at this lake! We have lived here 10 years and have never known of any deaths or that this is not a natural lake. The information regarding the deaths is not accessible easily! If myself her dad or had been aware of the dangers of the floor, pollution and many other things we wouldn’t never had agreed to the girls going and this is something that allot of people who have contacted me since Nicole’s death are also unaware of!
- For years family’s have visited the lake and taken taken children into the water in a area that they perceived as safe!
- I have contacted Witney town council and have not been given answers to basic information like the deaths, the floor safety, what is in the lake or the actual depth, things like basic water checks they have no records for….this is should be standard information and yet they have no answers as they do not check the health and safety of this lake!
- This is not a natural lake and is extremely deep and deadly. There are parts that are controlled by a very cold and very strong current that runs at the bottom….and Witney town council have no idea how deep down this goes…what is in the lake…the pollution that is in the water? I have been told since the have started digging and asking around that there is a construction type vehicle at the bottom amount many other things!!
- so I’m asking if you can support my fight to get ducklington lake dredged and filled so no one else has to lose a loved one in such a sudden and tragic way!
- Nicole was all about others and had spoke to us about organ donation and how she believed in this and we respected her wish and now she will be able to save other children as she would have wanted! So to get this lake filled and be able to stop other children losing there precious lives I know this is the right thing thing to do and Nicole would have agreed if it had been someone she had known!
- By getting the lake filled my beautiful baby girl’s death would not be in vain!
- we will do this for you Nicole!!
- XOX we will love you forever XOX
Amanda HolmesPetition Starter
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Petition created on 12 August 2021