Charity shop worker who was 'left to die' in 3ft of water because rescue workers were worried about their own health and safety
.'They just all seemed to be standing around,' said witness
More than a dozen emergency workers refused to pull a man from a waist-deep boating lake because of ‘health and safety’ fears.
For half-an-hour charity shop worker Simon Burgess, 41, was left face down in the shallow water as they waited for a specialist rescue crew.
Mr Burgess, who had gone to the lake to feed the swans, was pronounced dead at the scene but friends claim that if rescuers had waded straight into the water he could have been saved.
The crews of two fire engines, two police cars, two ambulances and an air ambulance were told not to enter the lake, which is no more than three feet (one metre) at its deepest point, in case they ‘compromised their safety’.
Drowned: Simon Burgess feeding the swans at Gosport Boating Lake earlier this year
The water rescue crew finally arrived – 26 minutes after Mr Burgess was seen falling in – and the ‘specialists’ removed him using nothing more technical than waterproof clothing and buoyant jackets.
Mr Burgess, who suffered blackouts following brain surgery, was a former sailing instructor and IT consultant.
Friends and family reacted with fury yesterday when they discovered that firemen, paramedics and police first on the scene did not wade in to help.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue decided there was ‘no obvious sign of life’ when they arrived at Walpole Park Lake, in Gosport, Hampshire, on Thursday lunchtime.
Cautious: Emergency services workers had to wait for a specialist water rescue crew to arrive before they retrieved the body
So their health and safety regulations deemed that: ‘Immediate entry into the water was not appropriate as it may have compromised the lives of others.’
Mr Burgess’s body was about 25 yards from the water’s edge when emergency services arrived. The bottom of the pond is muddy as it was formerly used as a cockle lake.Trina Horey, 47, assistant manager at the charity shop where Mr Burgess volunteered, said: ‘I’m furious that witnesses and the emergency services stood by and watched while waiting for the specialist team to drive all the way from Fareham.
‘If they had acted sooner, they may have saved him. Just because Simon wasn’t moving, it doesn’t mean he was dead.
Specialist rescue teams eventually arrived. The pictures show how shallow the lake is as the men wade out into the middle to recover the body
‘He had brain surgery several years ago, was on medication and suffered occasional blackouts. Sometimes he would just stand there but more recently he had been falling over. The blackouts would last between three minutes and 15 minutes.’
Mrs Horey last saw Mr Burgess at 11am on Thursday when he said he was off to feed the birds on the lake, which he did every lunchtime.
She added: ‘He was due to return to work later that afternoon but when [the staff] heard what happened they were devastated and closed early as a mark of respect.’
Roy Dore, who lives next door to Mr Burgess’s one-bedroom flat, yesterday described the police’s actions as ‘ridiculous and unbelievable’.
The 75-year-old said: ‘It doesn’t make sense, it was just two feet of water – any person could have jumped in to help.
‘If someone falls in the water and there’s a policeman nearby, surely they should jump in and help.’
The fire service and police say they did not enter the water as their regulations ban them from doing so – only specially trained water unit firefighters are allowed to go in.
Hampshire Police’s corporate communications officer Neil Miller admitted that the officers’ actions were for ‘health and safety reasons’, but defended their decision.
Superintendent Phil Winchester said: ‘The circumstances surrounding the man’s death are currently being investigated by police.’
The South Central Ambulance Service said Mr Burgess had suffered a suspected cardiac arrest.
Gosport Council said the lake’s depth was one-and-a-half feet (0.5m) at the edges and up to three feet (1m) in the centre, 182 feet wide and 333 long.
Emergency: Witnesses are concerned that no attempt was made to reach the man as soon as possible
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