The mother of a Southampton teenager who drowned near Bournemouth Beach has said she 'misses him every day', a year on from his passing.

Joe Abbess, 17, and 12-year-old Sunnah Khan from Buckinghamshire both tragically lost their lives after getting into difficulty in the water on May 31, 2023.

In the aftermath of Joe's passing, his devastated mother Vanessa took the trauma of that tragic day and is building something positive in her son's memory.

She has written to hundreds of schools about sea safety and with plans to take her campaign to Downing Street - and raised thousands, along with friends and family, for the charities who tried to save him.

She said: "It’s so tragic that Joe lost his life but if we can spread some good in his name, that would mean the world."

That fateful Wednesday saw Vanessa drive Joe to the train station for a beach day in the sun, as they shared their final words together.

She said: "I dropped him at the station that morning to meet his friends and get the train to Bournemouth; we could never have imagined that he would not be coming home."

Having headed out for a swim, the catering student got caught in a suspected riptide with several others.

He was rescued by the emergency services, including the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) and the RNLI, but later lost his life in hospital.

Vanessa said: “It’s been hard, when you lose a child, your life doesn’t carry on easily.

“We miss him every day. He lost a future he should have been proud of and been looking forward to.

"Life is very fragile.”

A source of comfort for Vanessa has been speaking to Stephanie Williams – Sunnah's mother – and using the national charity The Compassionate Friends to speak to other bereaved parents.

She said: “We all support each other.”

Daily Echo:

Gym-loving Joe had aspirations of becoming a chef, and was doing a catering course at City College - which will mark his passing by holding a charity banquet in his memory on June 6.

Students, led by Executive Chef Grahame Wickham, will cook a fine dining meal worth £50 for 35 guests, with money raised going towards the £9,000 sum Joe’s friends and family have already raised for the DSAA and RNLI.

City College will also unveil a memorial herb garden named after Joe, having already renamed their culinary student of the year award the Joe Abbess Memorial Award.

In the last year, Vanessa has dedicated much of her time to supporting water safety charities and calling for water safety information to be taught to children at school.

She said: “Beaches aren’t always a safe place, it still saddens me that Joe left home one day, he was perfectly fit and healthy, and never came home due to a suspected rip current and rapidly changing sea conditions.

“The Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) do some great work and have lots of information and downloadable tools for people to learn about potential dangers in the water and how to be as safe as possible."

She added: “I think I’ve written to about 300 schools, so it’s just about getting the message out there and in the public consciousness.

“I feel that through educating people about the unpredictability and ferocity of the sea, lives can be saved.”