'It's definitely not the end of our fight'

Leeanne Bartley's 18-year-old son, Mark Allen, died after after jumping into a reservoir in Greater Manchester in June of 2018.

In the years since the tragic incident, Leeanne has been working and campaigning towards improved water safety.

Last year, she launched a petition calling for 'Mark Allen's Law' to be introduced, which would make it law for throwline stations to be installed at all open water sites in Wales.

Around 400 people drown in the UK every year and thousands more suffer injury, some life changing, through near-drowning experiences.

As the petition proved to be so popular, members of the Senedd petitions committee heard evidence virtually on the subject on Monday.

Leeanne, from Ruthin, said: "For the Welsh petition it's over 10,000 and we managed to get over 11,000.

"There were over 100,000 (for the UK petition). It's pretty monumental."

She has previously stated that if there was a throwline station at that reservoir - which there is today - "I strongly believe Mark would still be here".

"Speaking to people who work in water safety, like those in the fire services, it's clear throwlines have saved many lives," she added.

"We want to save lives and save people from going through the heartbreak and tragedy of losing someone they love to drowning.

"You don't want youngsters going near open water, but realistically I think it's hard to stop it altogether. So there has to be a safety net in place if someone gets into difficulty."

She says that currently, throwline stations and other preventative measures are only installed at places where a tragedy has already occurred.

"We would really like to see more utility companies, etc, taking more of a proactive approach to water safety than a reactive one," she added.

"It's currently being done after someone's passed away.

"They need to be carrying out a more proactive approach."

Reacting to the Monday's meeting of the Senedd petitions committee, she added: "It's definitely not the end of our fight and it's not the end of the fight for anyone who's lost a child to drowning.

"It's hard as well. We are bereaved family members and we just need the Government to listen.

"It's just about making bridges and waterways safer for the public."

At the remote meeting, Jack Sargeant MS said: "We will be looking at the best way of speaking to some of the families who have tragically lost loved ones through this tragic circumstance."

He added: "I think it's important to mention the petition that Leeanne has put in to the UK Parliament which secured over 100,000 signatures if I'm correct, so we'll be keeping a close eye on any outcomes from that process."

The petitions committee has also written to Natural Resources Wales on the matter.

"Of course, the committee will consider that response when we receive one and any actions we may wish to take."