Kayden McGowan-Fleck: Inquest hears about final moments before drowning

The final moments of a young boy’s life have been recalled at an inquest by his parents and twin brother.

Kayden McGowan-Fleck, five, died after falling into a fast-flowing river near the Ecos Centre in Ballymena in 2018.

The hearing was told that the path along the river was covered in snow and ice on the day of the tragedy.

The inquest heard the boy lost his life after wandering from his home with his twin brother to see ducks in a nearby nature park.

Kayden McGowan-Fleck was born with a complex heart disease but his parents described to the inquest how he was living a busy and active childhood.

The boy’s family had just moved to a new home in Cullybackey.

However, they all returned to their former Housing Executive home at Orkney Drive, in the Ballykeel area of Ballymena, on the morning of the tragedy for a final “once over” clean-up.

His mother Leanne told the inquest that while she was tidying up inside the house, her three young children – the twins and their younger sister – were running around “laughing, going mad and carrying on”.

She said Kayden and his twin Jayden were constantly together.

She said: “What his brother did, he had to do. Where his brother went, he had to go.”

She went on to explain how they then went outside where their father was taking down a shed.

Daryl Fleck said they were running around with a bike while he was removing the shed.

Mr Fleck said he only took his eyes off the children for a brief period and thought they had gone back inside.

Within minutes, the parents noticed the twin boys were missing.

The boys’ parents frantically ran to the local shops and eventually to the area around the river, about half a mile away, to try to find their children.

As Mr Fleck ran towards the river, he saw his five-year-old son Jayden running towards him and he called out: “Where’s Kayden? Where’s Kayden?”

The young boy replied: “Help, Daddy, he fell in the water.”

The inquest was told that the riverbank was muddy and slippery at the time, and Kayden was quickly swept away.

Mr Fleck said the river was “nearly breaking the banks”.

The hearing also heard that the path along the river was covered in snow and ice.

The schoolboy, who attended Harryville Primary School, was found four miles downstream.

A medical expert told the hearing that the boy “was effectively dead when removed from the water”.

A statement from the boy’s twin brother Jayden was also read into the record of the inquest today.

Answering questions from a police officer following the tragedy, Jayden described how he also fell into the river but managed to get out.

He then explained how he attempted to save his brother, saying: “I tried to get him out but I couldn’t.”