THE mother of a teenage drama student who died in a tragic drowning accident has launched a fundraiser for a four-year-old who survived a similar incident.

Leeanne Bartley, from Ruthin, said she did not know her 18-year-old son Mark was out with friends at the Debdale Reservoir in Gorton, Greater Manchester in June last year until she received a call from her daughter that he was missing.

It was the hottest day of the year to that point and he had jumped into the water, not realising that it was “freezing” and got into difficulty despite his friends’ efforts to save him.

Mrs Bartley called her son's phone and a police officer answered when she realised "something really bad had happened". Mark's body was later recovered by rescue divers.

The mum-of-six says she “struggles every day to come to terms with what happened because there are a lot of unanswered questions” surrounding the cause of her only son’s death. She said she “felt lost” and decided to launch a campaign to share Mark’s tragic story in hope of promoting open water safety, which has already contributed to the installation of 20 throwlines in the Greater Manchester area and she now wants to have them “near every body of open water” in the UK.

However Mrs Bartley unexpectedly came to support a young boy who is undergoing stem cell treatment after a non-fatal drowning incident when aged just 20-months-old at a family swimming pool in Turkey in 2017.

She said: “Shortly after the unexpected loss of my son, I was scrolling support groups on Facebook and came across a page called Enis the Wonderchild. Enis had recently been accepted for four stem cell treatments but his family only have enough funds for one session and they need to raise a total of £15,000.

“Knowing and living with the pain of losing my own son every day I want to help Enis as much as I can to improve his quality of life. Stem cell treatment can do this.”

She contacted Enis’s mother and now hopes to raise £1,000 – but only has until January to get the funding. In order to deliver the life-changing present on time, Mrs Bartley has organised Enis’s Christmas Stem Cell Fundraiser at Ruthin Rugby Club 7pm-midnight on November 30 . It will feature live music from two Ruthin bands, a disco, face painter and a magician.

There will also be a raffle and tombola including holidays, swimming sessions, toys and even signed merchandise from none other than Ed Sheeran.

“Our wish is to make it a fun night for everybody in Mark’s memory and to help little Enis by giving him the gift of stem cell this Christmas,” Mrs Bartley added.

Tickets are available online, or to donate directly, visit Mrs Bartley's Just Giving page.