AMANDA Holmes’ phone rang and a frantic voice said: “I can’t find her… she’s gone.”
Nicole Sanders, 12 – known as Niki – had been excited to go swimming at a former quarry during one of the hottest days of the summer – but within minutes tragedy had struck.
The child had quickly got into difficulty at Ducklington Lake, near her home in Witney, Oxfordshire, and disappeared beneath the water, sparking a desperate search.
But by the time emergency crews had pulled her from the water, it was too late.
On July 18 2021, Niki had made the short walk to the lake from her home with her younger sister Tegan, then 10, as well as two other kids and adults known to the family.
Amanda, 44, understands the children were singing and holding hands in a circle in waist deep water when part of the lake bed gave way, plunging them into deeper depths and there was a chaotic panic to get to the shore.
Tegan later told her mum how brave Niki had held her above the surface to ensure she got out.
Mum Amanda told The Sun: “She’s concentrated on keeping Tegan out of the water so she could breathe.
“But after that she disappeared.”
The mum-of-six had warned Niki to stay out of the deeper water, explaining: “She could swim on her back and she could tread water but she wasn’t the strongest swimmer in the world.”
Firefighters waded into the lake after 999 calls were made around 2.35pm and the schoolgirl was pulled out – but by then Amanda estimates she’d been missing for at least 20 minutes.
Resuscitation efforts then lasted an hour, as Niki was blue-lighted but unfortunately nothing could be done.
After the frantic phone call from her friend – one of the adults watching over the children – Amanda said police arrived at the house and took her to John Radcliffe Hospital.
Amanda said: “I’m so protective of the girls. Then one day Niki was just gone.
“She was such a selfless person – she saved her sister’s life.
“She did everything to the best of her ability to make sure Tegan was safe, until it was too much for her.”
Tegan, now 15, is still traumatised from what she saw.
Amanda added: “It’s just so strange to think about it, because she left all happy and 20 minutes later, after they got there, she’d gone.
“I don’t understand how that happened. There are so many questions about that day.”
The family have since moved away from Witney but Amanda has been campaigning for the lake to be closed off and filled in since her daughter’s death.
She said: “There have been a lot of people who have lost their lives in Ducklington Lake, which I didn’t know until I started looking into it.
“There were people in there swimming the day after Niki died, which blows my mind.”
The Sun has approached Witney Town Council for comment.
Swimming and paddling is banned at the lake due to unstable banks and unpredictable water depths – and safety warnings are in place.
At the time of Niki’s death, the council told the BBC it “completely understands the desire to do something tangible to prevent any further loss of life”.
And it said it was looking to add “additional safety measures” around the lake and was looking to add more signs.
