It was supposed to be a joyful birthday celebration during a hot sunny day but turned into ‘agony’ for a family when their kind and caring daughter drowned.
A devastated dad told how his teenage daughter’s birthday celebrations turned into a ‘death day’ after the star pupil drowned in a ‘terrible accident’.
Thirteen-year-old Palwasha Akbar was playing in the River Wharfe at Burnsall, North Yorkshire, when she got into difficulty on May 31st.
She was rescued but later died in hospital. She was one of 19 victims of water-related deaths during a week-long ‘catastrophic’ heatwave in May.
These harrowing deaths prompted the Mirror to join forces with bereaved families and charities such as the Royal Life Saving Society UK, RNLI and RoSpa, to launch our ‘Save Lives for Sam’ water safety campaign.
Recently Julian Smith MP told during a water safety debate the Yorkshire Dales, and other national parks, need to look at their duty – not only to promote their areas “but also on safety”. He told how Palwasha had died in almost the same spot as another man had lost his life at in 2024.
Palwasha’s dad Irshad Akbar told the BBC his daughter, who was due to turn 14 the day after she died, was a “God-gifted child”.
“We went there to celebrate her birthday, and her birthday turned into a death day. It is really shocking,” to told them. The teen had asked to go to the popular rural spot with her family to enjoy a riverside barbecue. The children were to spend time in a shallow area of the water to play and cool-off.
But Mr Akbar told how after the car was almost packed around 6.30pm for the journey home, his two daughters and niece had decided to go for a walk around with his wife following the three girls.
The mum tragically lost sight of the girls in a crowd and, within “two to three minutes”, they had gone into an area of deeper water. “They were not supposed to go to the water at this time, we know there is deep water,” the dad told the BBC.
Both Palwasha and her little sister, aged 11, got into difficulty, but the younger girl was pulled to safety by a member of the public. Palwasha was later rescued from the water and was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Irshad described it as a “terrible accident” adding: “It’s a really tough and difficult time. We are not able to manage it yet,” he said. We are missing her. We are going through agony.”
He said Palwasha loved school and never missed a day at Bronte Girls’ Secondary Academy where she was was a kind and caring “star pupil”. “Everyone is crying for her, everybody is missing her, her teachers, friends, cousins, everyone,” he added.
Palwasha’s family and community are now fundraising for charitable causes, hoping to create something “positive and lasting in her name”.
The dad said he wanted to implement safety measures in the area as part of this, including life jackets and a fence around areas of particularly deep water. “I want to shield children basically from what happened with us; I don’t want anyone to be affected like us.”
He said children could be unpredictable and parents should “always stay close” to them and “expect anything. (People)should be really careful about the deep water and the children there,” he added. “Parents, they have a responsibility, to show them and keep them away from danger.”
Julian Smith MP told during a recent water safety debate how Palwasha had died “more or less at the same spot as Azaz Mohmed Chanda, aged 33, from Blackburn” in August 2024
“I represent a large part of the Yorkshire Dales national park… National parks have a duty to promote but they also have a duty to protect local communities and they have duties for safety.
“…What came out regarding the last bank holiday weekend, and Eid was that Yorkshire Dales National Park at an operational level had really not thought in any way, that I could see, about deployment of personnel in hotpots like Burnsall and hadn’t really thought through their responsibilities for safety…When you’ve had two of these deaths at the same spot in the last two years that cannot be right.”
The MP added: “I think national parks now need to take responsibility for the volumes of people they have promoted their areas and encouraged their areas to come and visit but now look at their duties on safety as well.” We have asked the Yorkshire Dales national park for a response.
