'He had a beautiful smile': School attended by boy, 8, who died after being pulled from river shares message

Joshua Hillstead, from Maypole, Birmingham, sadly died after his body was recovered from the River Arrow in Alcester, Warwickshire, following complications resulting from drowning.

At around 9.30pm on Monday, police were called to a report of a young child who had fallen into the river behind Kingfisher Way in Alcester.

Police, fire and ambulance services attended and Joshua was pulled from the river before receiving first aid and CPR.

The eight-year-old, who was a pupil at The Coppice Primary School in Wythall, 'died in his father's arms' at Birmingham Children's Hospital on Tuesday.

A statement by headteacher Mr Hutt said they will 'surround the family with love care and compassion'.

It read: "We were deeply shocked to hear the news that one of our pupils, Joshua Hillstead, had sadly lost their life as a result of a tragic accident. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Joshua’s family and friends at this very sad time. We will make sure that we surround Joshua’s family with our love, care and compassion and will make sure that we are there for them every day.

“Joshua had a beautiful smile. He had a strong friendship group and his relationships with them were based on kindness and enthusiasm for life. Joshua had an ability to connect with others and, as a result, he would always contribute positively to group situations and was always willing to lend a helping hand to any of his friends when they required it. This is why he was so popular and well-thought of.

“Joshua always engaged enthusiastically in lessons, particularly science and computing. He was also passionate about physical education and loved team activities, where he was always an active participant and always displayed a positive attitude. He excelled in his understanding of how to support others which is why he was always such a valuable team player.

“The loss of Joshua has left a hole in our school community which we will never be able to fill and we now need to concentrate on ensuring that we support Joshua's family and siblings in every way we can. We are also working closely with Worcestershire Children First to offer specialist support to pupils and staff. Our school community is an incredibly close one and we will all pull together to ensure that we do this, however I would ask the community to respect the privacy of the family at this very sad and difficult time.

“A book of condolence is now open and on display at St Mary's Church in Wythall, Worcestershire for anyone to pay their tributes. The book will also be available during the first week of September at The Coppice Primary School so that parents, carers and families (including children) and the local community who may be on holiday can contribute and write messages.”

A GoFundMe page set up to help Joshua's family. It has raised £8,400 so far out of a £8,500 target.

The young boy's death is the second to have happened as a result of open water in the West Midlands last week.

Tyrese Johnson, who had recently finished school for the summer, is said to have gotten into difficulty in the water at Lodge Farm Reservoir, Netherton at around 6pm on Tuesday.

Emergency services worked through the night to find him, and the 16-year-old's body was recovered shortly before 11.30am on Wednesday by police divers.