Mum whose son, 13, drowned in quarry blasts sick 'I'm alive' prank on TikTok
A mum whose 13-year-old son drowned in a quarry has blasted 'sickos' who pretended to be the dead boy on TikTok and told his pals 'I'm alive'.
Furious Rebecca Ramsay, 43, said she was still in "complete shock" after ghoulish pranksters took to social media to mock her son Dylan Ramsay’s tragic death. Dylan died on July 3, 2011, at Hill Top Quarry in Whittle-le-Woods near Chorley, Lancashire when he got into difficulty 20 minutes after entering the water.
A coroner later confirmed that his death was due to cold water shock. Beckie has spent the following 12 years raising awareness of the dangers of open-water swimming, and has won numerous awards for her campaigning.
Dylan died on July 3, 2011, at Hill Top Quarry in Whittle-le-Woods near Chorley, Lancashire (Beckie Ramsay / SWNS)
Beckie, who has spent years campaigning on water safety since the tragedy, has blasted the TikTok pranksters as 'sickos' (Beckie Ramsay / SWNS)But on Friday, she was disgusted to receive a call from one of Dylan’s old friends saying someone on a TikTok 'live' stream was pretending to be him. She said: "My phone went and it was one of Dylan's friends. I wondered why so obviously answered. The young lady who called asked if I was sitting down. I said yes and she proceeded to tell me that she had been in a live TikTok and an account came in with a picture of Dylan she recognized immediately.
"This person said to her 'It's Dylan, I'm not dead I'm alive'. She was very shaken so left the ‘live’ straight away and called me." The shocked mum said: "What kind of sicko makes accounts pretending to be my dead son? Telling his friends that he's alive - fuming don't come close! I just can't get over that people do this. My son has not been with us for 12 years. It's just so low."
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She is now trying to track down the TikTok account responsible for impersonating her dead son, and wants more to be done to help safeguard others over fears another grieving family could be "pushed over the edge". She added: "I have had so many kind messages from people checking if I am okay as others may not deal with the situation like me. If it can help raise awareness that would be great. There should be something in place to ensure that this isn't allowed. When Dylan's friend rang and told me I was in complete shock. I think I’m still struggling to believe anyone could be so nasty. My concern is more for if this was to happen to someone vulnerable it could potentially push someone over the edge."
Rebecca previously said that Dylan, who was a strong swimmer, would be alive today if he had been educated on the dangers of open-water swimming. She feared that he had fallen into a "false sense of security" because he could swim in a pool, and began a relentless campaign for more awareness of the fatal consequences of entering unguarded waterways.
In 2021, her petition to increase water safety information as part of the school curriculum received over 100,000 signatures and was debated in Parliament. Later the government responded by saying it would “work closely” with several charities and swimming organisations to “support pupils being taught how to swim and to be taught water safety through a number of routes.”
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