Tributes have poured out following the confirmation today that police recovered the body of a 15-year-old boy who drowned in a Cumbria river. Cumbria Police announced today that a body recovered from the River Eden belonged to Lewis Michael Kirkpatrick from Carlisle. Friends have paid tribute to the grieving family following their devastating loss.

Writing on Facebook, Barrie Mark Scougal, a personal trainer and owner of the Barrie Mark Personal Training Team, confirmed that Lewis’ mother was a longtime client and former client of his.

He asked people to join him in passing on “our condolences and best wishes” to the family.

Mr Scougal wrote: “It’s with great sadness that I can confirm that last night we were informed that the young man who died in the River Eden the weekend was the youngest son of one of our current and long-standing clients and former staff member Nichola Kirkpatrick.

“Please respect Nic and Paul’s privacy at this truly awful time for them and join me in passing on our condolences and best wishes to the whole family.”

He continued: “When one of Team BMPT is cut, we all bleed, the has been shown time and time again over the last few years and I know as a community that we will all pull together to support the family in any way we can.

“Rest in Peace Lewis. Nic, Paul, You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Football fans also paid tribute to the teenager during a Carlisle United v Stockport County playoff this afternoon.

Applause broke out at Wembley Stadium as the game hit the 15-minute mark, with both Blues and Stockport fans joining in.

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Local officials also issued statements, with Lisa Brown, Cumberland Council’s deputy leader, saying her heart went out to “the families involved”.

She said: “It’s such a tragic incident. I’ve got children myself and you don’t imagine anything like this happening.

“The council will be there where it’s needed in the next stages to work out what happened and what we can do to get the message out that swimming can be dangerous.

“We need to do more to prevent this from ever happening again.”

Police formally identified the body following an extensive multi-agency search operation to locate the teenager’s whereabouts and his body was found shortly after 1.30pm on May 27.

Firefighters and police officers were called to thee scene at roughly 6.40pm on Friday evening, but not all four boys were accounted for when they arrived, according to Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.

One 14-year-old boy who was airlifted to hospital on Friday evening still remains in a critical condition and is fighting for his life.

Another boy in the group managed to swim to safety, whereas the other was rescued by a member of the public. They were both checked over by medical professionals.

Following the discovery, Chief Superintendent Lisa Hogan, Cumbria Constabulary, said: “This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family of the 15-year-old boy at this difficult time.”

“The search activity was assisted by emergency services, search and rescue teams, and specialist search professionals from Cumbria and from outside the county.”

The family members of Lewis continue to be supported by specialist officers.

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