Father hears son cry ‘I’m needing help’ as he drowns in frozen loch

A FATHER has told of the “horrendous” moment his son died trying to save the family pet from an icy loch.

Roderick McAllister described John McAllister as a “hero” for attempting to rescue his elderly spaniel.

He said he felt helpless as he heard the 37-year-old crying for help.

“It was horrendous. All I heard was John call out ‘I’m needing help’ and then he didn’t answer again.

“There was literally nothing I could do. I don’t keep the best health and I would have been dead the minute I touched the freezing water.”

The 56-year-old, known as Roddy, who suffers from a heart condition, could only watch as his stepson John disappeared under the ice at Gadloch near Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire. He added: “I don’t know how his mum is going to cope. It hasn’t hit us just yet. John died a hero.”

A two-hour night-time search and rescue operation was launched after John, who lived with his parents, got into difficulty while coming to the aid of his 14-year-old dog Tain on Sunday.

Earlier that day, he had been walking with Roddy and their six dogs when Tain wandered on to the frozen loch.

The pair tried in vain to coax it back to shore and headed home confident the dog would return. But soon after, John spotted his beloved pet in trouble from the window of his nearby home.

He grabbed a lilo and rushed to the dog’s aid, using the lilo to keep him from falling through the ice.

But when he tried to hoist the female dog out of the water, the lilo burst and they both plunged into the water.

His body was recovered at around 7:30pm, following an extensive two-hour search by police divers, a helicopter and fire crews using a thermal imaging camera..

They also used a rigid inflatable boat to search the loch with a thermal image camera.

The rescue team warned of the danger that open-water areas present, urging people to keep pets on a lead around frozen water and to avoid attempts at rescuing animals on ice.

The Gadloch is often used for curling in winter as thick ice covers the surface, but police said there was only a small and unstable covering of ice on the loch at the time.

Strathclyde Police said that investigations were continuing but confirmed it was an accident and there were no suspicious circumstances.

Liz Lumsden, community safety manager at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Scotland, said: “Sadly we have heard of several similar drownings in recent years. As such, we urge people not to go into the water to rescue their pet.

“In many cases that we know about, the animal has scrambled to safety while the owner has not.

“We advise dog walkers to keep their animal on a lead around water and not to throw sticks or balls on to the ice.”