'I'm not saying it would have saved her, but she might have had more of a chance'
Mum of girl, 12, who drowned in Tweed, backs calls for lifebelts along length of river
Last updated 23rd Jul 2021
The mother of a 12-year-old girl who drowned in the Tweed is backing calls for lifebelts to be installed along the length of the river.
Ann Walker says children still play in the spot near Norham where her daughter Debbie went under 21 years ago.
She's speaking to Radio Borders as part of our #GetWaterWise campaign, to warn listeners of the dangers of playing near open water.
It's being launched amid fears a rise in staycations this year could lead to more accidental drownings - with 14 deaths across the UK in the last week alone.
Ann, who's also calling for more life-saving lessons in schools, said: "I think it's a good thing to put lifebelts up the whole of the Tweed.
"I'm not saying it would have saved her, but she might have had more of a chance. Because there were other children with her, and they might have been able to throw something to her."
Debbie - described as "lovely and bubbly" by her mum - was a first year pupil at Berwickshire High School in Duns when she went missing. And her disappearance - less than half a mile from her home in the village of Ladykirk - sparked a full-scale emergency response.
Police from both sides of the Scotland-England border, coastguards, the Borders search and rescue team, and local volunteers were involved in the search, before her body was eventually recovered later that night.
Recalling the tragedy, Ann said: "Debbie, like any 12-year-old, wanted to go down to the water and we said: 'No'. She knew she wasn't allowed to go down there without an adult, but it was that warm - it was the warmest day of the year up to that point.
READ MORE: River Tweed safety campaign receives major boost following Kelso mum's petition
"My mum used to live up the road and she used to go up a lot to see her Granny, so when she disappeared I just assumed she was up there.
"Then one of her friends came running into the house to let me know that Debbie had gone into the river and gone under, and they couldn't find her. So I ran down the road and that's when everything started kicking off, all the searches.
"They found her about nine o'clock at night, just yards off where she'd gone in; but, because of the current and the depth of the water, it took them a wee while.
"Every time I hear a helicopter now I think: 'Oh, oh - here we go again.' Because the river does take people all the time - adults and children. And, every time I hear the helicopter I just think: 'Not another one'."
More than 700 people have now signed a petition calling for lifebelts to be installed on the banks of the River Tweed in Kelso.
It was started by local mum Anne Moriarty, who lost two sons in the water.
Martin Moriarty was just 13-years-old when he drowned in Kelso in 2009. He was pulled under the water by strong currents while swimming with friends at the Cobby - an area down stream from Floors Castle, where the River Tweed meets the River Teviot.
And, last year, his brother, Andrew, was found dead in the water after disappearing during a night out, aged 28.
#GetWaterWise: Scottish Fire and Rescue Service advice to keep safe around water this summer
Adding her support, Ann said: "Every day we think about Debbie - not just me, the whole family. What could have been, we'll never know. She would have been 34 on Tuesday past."
But she added: "Kids from Norham still come up to where Debbie lost her life and don't realise the dangers. It doesn't take much - a child slips, gets into difficulty, nobody sees them..."