An inquest has heard how a 14-year-old boy died trying to save his friend after a rope swing accident on the River Tyne in Northumberland. David Ionut Radut, 14, and Aras Rudzianskas, 13, both from Newcastle, were playing on a rope swing near Ovingham on May 18, 2024, when tragedy struck.
Incident Details
David, who could not swim, let go of the swing too early and landed in a deeper part of the river. He got into difficulty, shouted for help, and Aras ran into the water to try and save him. In his panic, David pushed Aras under the water, and both struggled. Another child attempted to help but had to let go after feeling themselves getting into difficulty and swam back to the riverbank.
Assistant Coroner Paul Dunn, sitting at Northumberland Coroner's Court in Morpeth, heard that David went under the water and was not seen again, while Aras was taken by the current, face down with his arms spread. Fiona Matthews, a paddleboarder, discovered Aras' body, initially mistaking it for a pale rock. She turned him over, pulled him onto her paddleboard, and began chest compressions.
Rescue Efforts
Fiona Matthews told the court: "I pulled him under the arms and used his shorts to try and get him out of the water. I think the adrenaline kicked in." She continued chest compressions while paddling to the riverbank, having lost her paddle. Paramedics took over in the water and managed to restart Aras' heart, but he could not breathe on his own. He was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle, where he died three days later.
Police marine units searched the river for David, and his body was found on the riverbed at 6:30pm that evening. He was taken by ambulance to the RVI.
Investigation and Family Concerns
Detective Sergeant Danielle Grant of Northumbria Police requested that the tree branch with the swing be cut down the next morning, but she told the court: "I was informed an unknown person has gone down and cut down the entire tree."
David and Aras were part of a group of about 20 children who had travelled from Newcastle to Ovingham. They had been at the river less than half an hour when the incident happened. They were the first to use the swing, and nobody else had a turn because it happened so quickly. Some children flagged down a bus for help, and police received three calls in quick succession.
Ben Corlett, who was in the area, described the scene: "There was a lot of panic, a lot of hysteria, crying and shouting. I didn't realise what happened at first. When I saw them run out in front of the bus, I thought maybe one of them had been hit."
The first call to police at 3:29pm stated that two mates had jumped into the river and were dead, but the caller was too distraught to provide further details. Two minutes later, a passenger on the bus reported a drowning, and at 3:35pm, a third caller said two males had drowned, explaining that one had struggled and the other tried to help.
David's family questioned why they were not notified until 6:50pm. PC Grant explained that police initially did not know which male was which, as descriptions were similar and they had no belongings.
Previous Tragedy
Coroner Dunn noted that he had previously dealt with the inquest of Robert Hattersley, 13, who also drowned in the River Tyne near Ovingham in 2022. He said: "I dealt with the inquest of Robert Hattersley, another young man killed in different circumstances in the same piece of river. I remember sitting with his family and very much hoping I wouldn't have to have another family, families, in front of me again and here are unfortunately with a similar set of circumstances." The inquest continues.
