Father leaped into water to save son, six, who fell into Kent river

‘He would have been too scared to swim’: Heartbroken mother of boy, six, who was swept away after falling into Kent river says he would have been paralysed with fear as it emerges his father leaped into the water to try to save him

  • Lucas Dobson fell into the River Stour in Kent on a family fishing trip on Saturday
  • Police officer leading the search admits that he is ‘unlikely’ to be found alive 
  • He slipped through a gap between the jetty and a boat at the start of the trip 
  • The boy, aged six, has now been missing for more than 24 hours after falling in 

Lucas Dobson fell into the River Stour in Kent on Saturday after slipping through a gap between the jetty and a boat at the start of a family fishing trip

A boy of six who was swept away after falling into a river was feared drowned last night as his devastated mother said ‘he would have been too scared’ to try to save himself.

Lucas Dobson fell into the River Stour in Kent on Saturday after slipping through a gap between the jetty and a boat at the start of a family fishing trip.

His father Nathan and two other men dived into the water in a desperate bid to rescue the boy – but Lucas was swept away by the strong current. 

His devastated mother Kirsty Furze said that while the little boy had had some swimming lessons at school, he would have been ‘too scared to try to do anything’.

More than 100 emergency services workers and 200 volunteers joined a massive search operation to find Lucas yesterday. 

But Superintendent Amanda Tillotson from Kent Police said she feared it was increasingly unlikely that there would be a positive outcome.

She added: ‘It is really important that we continue to search for Lucas and continue to do that for the family, and my heart goes out to them, it really does.’

She said the search team was working hard ‘to bring a quick resolution and find Lucas as quickly as we can for the family’, adding: ‘This is an awful, tragic incident.’ 

His father Nathan, above in his boat, and two other men dived into the water in a desperate bid to rescue the boy – but Lucas was swept away by the strong current 

A police officer talks to members of the public outside the fire station in Sandwich, Kent, as they resume the search for the boy. Volunteers were warned about their own safety and told by police to stay away from the water’s edge, work in groups, and make sure they had phones

Dive units searched the river, focusing on where the accident happened in Sandwich at 1.20pm on Saturday.

The search teams scoured the water until 10pm on the first night before resuming at first light yesterday.

Lucas’s aunt Maciee Stanford, 18, said his father jumped into the water to save him, but ‘the current was too strong – he had already gone’.

The rescue team were out in dinghies from dawn this morning as the search carried on to the second day. Superintendent Amanda Tillotson from Kent Police said she feared it was increasingly unlikely that there would be a positive outcome


Lucas Dobson, six, fell into the water at 1.20pm yesterday while on a ‘family fishing trip’

She said: ‘The incident happened because our Lucas was on the jetty and tried to step from there on to the boat, but he fell in between the jetty and the boat.

‘As soon as he fell the three adults jumped in after (him) but the current was too strong – he had already gone in the short amount of time. He couldn’t be found. The current was so strong the three men could barely swim in it.’

She said Lucas, who lives in nearby Deal, could swim but the family feared the Warden House Primary School pupil would have been paralysed by fear. 

Terry Walton, 37, a friend of Mr Dobson, said: ‘Lucas is a lovely little lad. Nathan was really in a bad way yesterday. I wasn’t even allowed to see him. The family are going through hell.’

Residents of the town have rallied round to help with the huge search operation. 

Volunteers were warned about their own safety and told by police to stay away from the water’s edge, work in groups, and make sure they had phones.

Kent Fire and Rescue said it had been inundated with offers of support and was forced to turn people away.

Rescue officers are pictured talking to members of the public on the banks of the River Stour on Saturday evening

Members of Kent Search and Rescue scour the waters as heavy rain poured down on the River Stour on Sunday

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