Tributes have been paid to a popular and hard-working 16-year-old Carlisle boy who lost his life after getting into difficulty in the River Eden.
Mohammed Abdul Hamid, known as Hamid, got into difficulty when he entered the River Eden with a group of friends on July 17 last year.
Despite the brave efforts of his friends and the emergency services, Hamid drowned.
An inquest into his death in Cockermouth this morning heard that the former Bishop Harvey Goodwin School and Richard Rose Central Academy student grew up with no problems “and had fun as any child would”.
Hamid was described as someone who loved to have fun, was inquisitive, was always asking questions, was excitable and not shy.
When he was in year eight or nine, Hamid was diagnosed with ADHD, but his condition “didn’t make a significant difference to his behaviour”.
“He loved to go to the gym, he loved boxing and he loved playing football and loved gaming,” said his mother Hajera Begum, in a statement read out on her behalf in the hearing.
Hamid’s idol was boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
“He was really popular at school, everyone knew Hamid,” said Mrs Begum in the statement.
“He was a regular attendee to the local mosque and took classes to learn the Quran.
“He tried to improve his grades at school and was working harder than he had been.”
Love for sports
He retained his interest in sport and was researching a career in sports therapy. He had also considered construction, but he could never decide what he wanted to do.
“When he was younger he talked about being a police officer. He always had dreams,” continued his mother’s statement.
Hamid’s mother said she missed her son “greatly” and that “he was the light of our house”.
“We are devastated by his death and visit his grave every day,” said the statement.
Mrs Begum said she had been preparing for Eid and had been buying her son gifts in the lead up to his death.
“It is really sad without him,” she added in her statement.
The inquest also heard a statement read out on behalf of one of Hamid’s friends, Joshua Simms, who was part of the group of friends on July 17.
He described how the group had been “having a good time, chatting and listening to music”.
He outlined that the group had been split up into two, with one group closer to the golf course and the other to Rickerby Park.
As one group attempted to cross the river to join up with friends on the other side, Hamid soon followed.
At about 8.30pm, Hamid, a non-swimmer, entered the river but soon came into difficulty.
Brave friends
Hamid’s friends bravely tried to help him but the current was too strong and they quickly lost sight of him.
“We couldn’t see Hamid, or underwater, and we were shouting people walking through Rickerby Park to try and get help, but some people walked past. They probably thought we were messing about,” said Joshua in the statement.
One passer-by then stopped and called the emergency services.
Firefighters, paramedics and police were soon on scene and immediately began to search for the teenager.
It soon became clear that Hamid was in a deep trench in the river, out of reach of the teams on scene and an underwater search team was requested at 10.30pm before it was stood down shortly after due to the lack of light.
Hamid was found at 11.45am the following morning.
David Stalker, who attended the scene on July 18, had a statement read out in the inquest on his behalf.
“He was seen getting into difficulty and others got into the water, but due to the conditions it was not possible to help him.”
He described the events as a tragic set of circumstances which Hamid was unable to recover from.
Paramedics diagnosed his death at 12.38pm on July 18.
Kirsty Gomersal, area coroner for Cumbria, praised the actions of Hamid’s friends, who she said showed immense bravery as they tried to help him.
The coroner concluded that the cause of death was drowning through misadventure.
