Parents of quarry death teens back safety campaign

24 June 2010

The parents of two teenage boys killed in separate quarry accidents are backing a Mineral Products Association (MPA) campaign to prevent similar tragedies involving thrill seeking youths.

Tracy Walker's 15-year-old son Ryan drowned in a disused quarry in Ashover, Derbyshire in June 2009. He had been swimming with friends in the deep, ice-cold waters when he got in to difficulties.

Last April, Steve Harris's 18-year-old son Jay was walking with friends in a quarry near Nuneaton in Warwickshire, when he fell 100 feet to his death.

Every year, young people are killed and injured after entering some of the UK's 1,300 quarries uninvited - the MPA's Stay Safe campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers.

The launch of this year's campaign comes ahead of a bank holiday weekend when quarry managers report an annual surge in quarry trespass by people of all ages.

Tracy Walker said: "Kids think that they're indestructible and nothing will happen to them, but look what happened to Ryan. He's lost his life going into a quarry that looked like a tropical paradise. It was a lovely, sunny day but nobody knows the dangers of getting into the water."

Steve Harris said: "He was the life and soul to his friends, he was the glue that held them together and they're lost without him. If something like this can happen to someone as charismatic and as loved as Jay, I can assure you it can happen to anyone."

In 2009, four teenage boys lost their lives in the UK in active or disused quarries, the Stay Safe campaign aims to raise awareness of dangers such as freezing water, steep cliffs, falling rocks and quicksand pools.

MPA Chief Executive Nigel Jackson says: "Quarries are safe places for the trained people who work there but there are some very real dangers for anyone who enters a quarry uninvited. Our members are doing all they can in terms of fencing and raising awareness – our appeal to parents, teachers and anyone else who influences young people is to help us ensure that the message gets across.

He added: "The willingness to take risk is a common theme with teenagers who are killed or injured in quarries. Our aim this year is to persuade young people to understand that taking those risks could cost them their lives, sacrificing in a moment all the good things that lie ahead of them. It will also devastate the lives of their families and friends.