INQUEST ON DROWNED BOY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22345, 8 March 1938, Page 16

INQUEST ON DROWNED BOY

CORONER COMMENDS ATTEMPT AT RESCUE [THE PRESS Special Service. 1 DUNEDIN, March 7. At the conclusion of the inquest into another of the drowning accidents that have marred an otherwise ideal bathing season in Otago, the Coroner l (Mr J. K. Bartholomew) emphasised the necessity for the exercise of the greatest care when bathing at beaches, and concluded with a tribute to the courage of a would-be swimmer who spent himself to the point of exhaustion in an attempt to save a boy at Brighton on February 20. The inquiry concerned the death by drowning at Ocean View, near Brighton, of a young boy, Ivan George Berryman. After hearing the evidence the Coroner returned. a verdict of accidental drowning. In giving his verdict, Mr Bartholomew said that the unfortunate drowning further stressed the necessity for the greatest care while bathing at beaches.

In speaking of Hugh Arthur McColl, the Coroner said: "Mr McColl must be highly commended for his gallant efforts to rescue the boy. Although he is not a strong swimmer himself, he did everything possible to the point of exhaustion to save the boy."