Heroic student Jack lost his life to save three others on Bristol Uni society swimming trip

Last June, Jack Lees went on the University of Bristol Students’ Union Wild Swimming Society trip to Bude in Cornwall. Here, he heroically saved the lives of three fellow students and, in the process, lost his own, an inquest heard.

I spoke with Dawn and Beth, his mum and sister, who spoke of how kind, brave and intelligent Jack was. His Mum Dawn explained: “It transpired that he was doing so much to support other people with their essays, their maths and chemistry and whatever it was.”

The Jack Lees Annual Peer Support Award is being established in the neuroscience department to honour Jack’s unwavering support for his fellow students.

In the Inquest Dawn stated how at University: “Jack had an amazing group of friends. He had found his people. He was happy and I’m grateful for that.”

The trip had been organised by the University of Bristol Students’ Union Wild Swimming Society, and was in its 4th year running. On 4th June, Jack and his friend Zaid noticed the tide was changing directions, endangering three women who were in the water. After being unable to call them back in, they went into the sea to help. This action saved the lives of those three swimmers.

Since Jack’s tragic death, Dawn initiated the development of a “safe society charter mark”, to provide a safety framework for student societies which partake in outdoor activities. The inquest into Jack’s death on Tuesday provides a starting point for change. This is now being led by Ben Pilling, CEO of Bristol’s SU and is being supported by the NUS. It is hoped that this will be rolled out nationally to all universities to improve safety on outdoor pursuit activities.

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Dawn told me: “Since the summer we’ve been working to improve water safety for the Wild Swimmers at Bristol and establish the Safe Society Chartermark as a concept, I suppose it’s like we haven’t really had time to grieve in a lot of ways”

Many unanswered questions remain over the safety of the trip. But one thing we do know is that Jack is a hero.

A tribute fund to the RNLI has been set up in Jack’s honour.

Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bristol, said: “On behalf of the University of Bristol I want to extend our heartfelt condolences to Jack’s family and friends.

“Jack was in his second year studying Neurosciences, he was a well-loved student, and we know that many of his friends have been significantly affected by his loss. It is clear he was thriving, enjoying his studies at Bristol and had a bright future ahead of him.

“Jack tragically died last summer in the sea off the coast of Cornwall where his actions resulted in the lives of three students being saved.

“Our Students’ Union is currently running a campaign, supported by the University, which focuses on water safety and has been produced in partnership with the RNLI.

“We wanted to ensure that Jack’s family and friends had somewhere at Bristol where they could remember him and so we have planted an apple tree in his memory and installed a bench in Royal Fort Gardens where he liked to go with friends.”