The Medicash Foundation, part of Liverpool based health insurer Medicash, has stepped in to fund two potentially life saving devices in Monks Ferry. It follows an appeal after the death of young dad Nathan Cooper in 2017 and the involvement of MP for Birkenhead, Frank Field.
Nathan Cooper, known to friends and family as ‘Beano’, was dragged under by the current after a wave swept him and a friend into the waters of the River Mersey between Monks Ferry and the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead in June 2017.
Emergency services were called, and his 22-year-old friend was rescued by Constable Thompson together with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s Marine Rescue Team.
Constable Thompson who was the first emergency responder said: “I was the first officer on the scene and located one male in the water. Thankfully I had removed the ‘throw line’ from the rear of my police vehicle as when I got on to the promenade there was not a single life belt or rescue ladder. The only life belt I could spot was on the landing stage for the ferry, simply too far away to be of any use.”
Sadly, Nathan had gone under the water just before Constable Thompson arrived and, despite desperate searches, did not resurface.
In 2017, Medicash chief executive Sue Weir worked alongside a number of partners including the RNLI to identify how many life belts were needed and the best places for these to be located. Following this work two temporary life belts were installed along the promenade, but the Medicash Foundation is delighted to announce that the permanent ones have now been installed.
Frank Field, MP for Birkenhead and chairman of Medicash said: “Had there been a life belt nearby on that fateful day, perhaps Nathan would still be with us and his young family. If just one life could be saved by these life belts I’d be happy that another family would not have to deal with such tragedy.”
The Medicash Foundation has donated over £1m to health-related charities over the last 10 years, and recently announced a further £720,000 was being made available to support health and wellbeing projects in the North West and beyond.