Lifeguard, 36, was two-and-a-half times the limit when he drowned while trying to swim across a reservoir for ‘stupid’ £20 bet, inquest hears
- Wesley Wood, 36, tried to swim across a reservoir in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
- Had bet a friend £20 he could win in race across Ormsgill Reservoir in June, 2018
- A coroner at inquest at Barrow Town Hall recorded a conclusion of misadventure
Wesley Wood, 36, (pictured) had 217 milligrams of alcohol in his blood when he died, the equivalent of two-and-a-half times the legal limit for driving. At an inquest, a coroner recorded a conclusion of misadventure
A lifeguard drowned while attempting to swim across a reservoir for a ‘stupid’ £20 bet, an inquest has heard.
Wesley Wood, 36, was at Ormsgill Reservoir in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria on a hot summer afternoon in June last year when he challenged a friend to a race.
An inquest heard the father-of-one turned to his friend Darren Speirs and said: ‘I bet you £20 I can swim across faster than you.’
Mr Wood and Mr Speirs stripped down to their boxers and waded into the reservoir after having sunk ‘a couple of cans’ despite pleas from a female friend against the ‘dangerous’ idea.
Mr Wood began getting into difficulty and went under several times before drowning just ten feet from the edge of the reservoir, the inquest heard.
Mr Speirs and friends Diane Parkinson and Trevor O’Neil attempted to pull Mr Wood out of the water but were unable to save him.
He was taken to Furness General Hospital before later being pronounced dead.
Toxicology reports showed Mr Wood had 217 milligrams of alcohol in his blood when he died, the equivalent of two-and-a-half times the legal limit for driving.
The hearing was told Barrow Council, which owns the reservoir, had put up signs warning people not to swim in the water since the incident.
An inquest at Barrow Town Hall heard Mr Speirs had managed to swim around 30 feet into the reservoir before he became aware Mr Wood was no longer beside him.
Mr Speirs recalled his desperate attempts to save his friend.
He said: ‘I went down five or six times and on the last time I found him.
‘I put my hands under his arms and managed to get him up a bit but it was too hard. It was just a stupid £20 bet.’
Wesley Wood was swimming at Ormsgill Reservoir in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria (pictured) on a hot summer afternoon in June last year when he drowned
Mr Speirs had previously called his friend Miss Parkinson to ask her to come to look after their clothes, the hearing was told.
Despite her trying to persuade them against the idea, Mr Wood and Mr Speirs stripped down to their boxers and waded into the reservoir.
Miss Parkinson said: ‘Wes went under once then he popped back up and then he went under again.
‘He just disappeared; his head just went under.
‘I rang 999, the lady told me to tell Wes and Darren to get out of the water but they wouldn’t get out. They kept trying for ages to get him out.’
Mr Wood’s mum Julie Beswick said her son, who grew up in Barrow-in-Furness but lived in Kendal, would have seen his swimming ability severely affected by his alcohol consumption.
She described her son as a ‘gentle soul, kind and caring, who could be mischievous and always stuck up for the underdog’.
‘Piel Island was his favourite place, he would go camping there a lot,’ Mrs Beswick said.
‘He was into fishing, motorbikes, swimming, water-skiing and rock-climbing.’
Mrs Beswick described the heartbreaking moment she was told her son had been ‘in an accident’.
‘They led us into the resus room where my son lay lifeless,’ she said.
‘They were trying to tell us there were no signs of life. The consultants came and said they needed to withdraw life support as to carry on would be inhumane.’
She told the inquest her son had worked as a joiner for Leck Construction, a lifeguard at White Cross Bay and as a fitness instructor.
Coroner Kirsty Gomersal recorded a conclusion of misadventure.
In summing up, she said: ‘I would urge people who have drunk alcohol and find themselves in the same circumstances not to swim.
‘That warning should be Wes’ legacy.’
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