Boy aged 8 drowns after falling in canal

Matthew Cartwright, who had part of his left arm missing and could not swim, stood too close to the bank and slipped in.

Passer-by Reeza Abdollaza jumped in to try to save Matthew, but was beaten back by the cold. Police officer John Porter then pulled the boy out.

Matthew was airlifted to Rotherham District General Hospital but had to be transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital where he died, an inquest heard.

The cause of death was given as drowning and Rotherham’s assistant deputy coroner Mark Beresford said: “This was a terrible and tragic event.”

Matthew’s mother Donna Bradshaw, in a statement read out at the hearing, said Matthew had been born with part of his lower left arm missing and had no fingers or thumb. She said: “He couldn’t swim and never had swimming lessons.”

Matthew, from Mexborough in South Yorkshire, was playing with his cousin Regan Young when the tragedy happened last August.

Cousin Chloe Hesselden, 15, was in charge of the boys and thought Matthew and her brother Regan were playing in a park close to their home.

Although the banks of the South Yorkshire Navigation Canal were covered in bushes, Matthew found a small gap which was used by local anglers.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.