A TEENAGE boy drowned after losing a rock, paper, scissors dare to jump into a freezing reservoir before his pals bravely tried to save him.

Onlookers watched on in horror as 16-year-old Sam Haycock – who wasn't a strong swimmer – "cannonballed" from a bridge into Ulley Reservoir in Yorkshire as he celebrated the end of term with mates.

An inquest into the tragedy, which unfolded near Rotherham on May 28 last year, heard how the friends had been "egging" each other on to make the plunge into the icy water.

The pals then decided to play rock, paper, scissors to decide who would jump first – with Sam losing the bet, YorkshireLive reports.

Sam – who had only recently been diagnosed with autism and other complex medical problems – then leapt in the reservoir.

But his pals could see he was panicking, and one of them – only identified as C in the hearing – courageously jumped in after him in a bid to save him.

Eyewitness Craig Pennington told the inquest he could hear a teen calling "help me, help me" after seeing several "young lads laughing and joking around".

"I could see four teenage boys, it sounded like they were getting more excitable," he said.

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"It appeared like they were egging each other to jump into the water.

"One of the teenagers then started shouting: 'Help me, help me'. I went to see what was happening not realising the urgency until I got next to the side of the bridge. It all happened so quickly.

"We assisted the teenager hanging onto the bridge, ('C'), and between us we managed to get him out of the water.

"He kept saying: 'Where's my mate, where's my mate?'"

The inquest heard how a throw line was unsuccessfully used to try to haul Sam from the water before firefighters arrived on the scene – with one leaping into the water to help the teen.

But tragically Sam had drowned, and his body was recovered.

Senior coroner Nichola Mundy concluded Sam died from drowning, and that his death was an accident as she praised his friend's attempts to save him.

"Because he didn't have any fear or sense of danger he said he would jump in first," she said.

"The temperature of the water would have been a significant shock to Sam and to Sam's system that would have sent him into panic. His friend's efforts to save him were valiant.

"His friend was very brave but it simply was not possible him to save his friend despite his best efforts."

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