Twin boy, 6, drowns in the Algarve on family holiday

A six-year-old British boy has drowned while on holiday with his family in the Algarve.

Nathan Sharkey was pulled unconscious by his father from a water tank at a private villa.

His father Martin Sharkey found him at the bottom of the tank after discovering he had gone missing.

He tried desperately to revive Nathanbut the youngster died later in hospital.

Paramedics arrived at the villa, three miles from Silves, at around 8pm on Thursday.

Commander Luis Simoes, of the Silves fire brigade, said: 'We sent an ambulance with two paramedics and when they arrived they saw that the child had already been pulled out by his father.

'The paramedics had oxygen with them and began attempting to resuscitate him.'

Nathan was rushed to hospital in the nearby town of Portimao and was later transferred to a bigger hospital in Faro.
But he died early at around 5am Friday.

A source at the hospital in Faro said: 'He died despite our best efforts. He was very weak, and the symptoms were irreversible.'

Mr Sharkey and his wife Kelly were on holiday with twin sons Nathan and Matthew and their youngest son Christopher from their home in Claudy, Londonderry, in Northern Ireland.

Tragedy struck as Nathan, who was a pupil at a school for  children with severe learning difficulties, wandered away from the family and ended up in a man-made reservoir close to where they were staying on the  outskirts of Faro.

Mr Sharkey realised he was missing almost immediately and found the boy lying  motionless at the bottom of the water. He immediately dived in to rescue his son and then desperately gave him the kiss of life on the spot until emergency  services arrived.

The tragedy happened on Wednesday evening and news of the death sent  shockwaves through the closeknit village of Claudy, near Londonderry, where the  family lived.

Local priest Fr Neil Farren from St Mary's Parish Church in Ardmore, said the  tragedy had left the couple numbed with shock and disbelief.

Fr Farren said: 'This is a nightmare for these parents who lived for their children. I  distinctly remember the mother holding Nathan in her arms the last time I met  them and she adored that child as she did all her children.'

Nathan's home in Claudy, County Derry

Local SDLP councillor Brenda Stevenson, who works at Nathan's school as a speech and  language therapy technician, told how he was a wonderful child.

She said: 'He was a bright, beautiful, bubbly young child and his untimely  passing will be a tragic loss to his classmates and the school community as a  whole.

'His death has sent shockwaves throughout Claudy and our thoughts and prayers  are with Nathan's family at this devastating time.

'You can feel the raw grief in the village, everyone is absolutely devastated.  His death will be a huge loss to his family and the community. He was a lovely  little boy.'

There was no answer from the front door of the Sharkey family home in the  centre of Claudy village where children's toys lay scattered around  the back garden.

Family members flew out to Portugal to comfort the couple.

Arrangements are now being made to have the boy's body flown home but it may be  some time until the formalities have been completed in Portugal before funeral  arrangements can be made.

Nathan is the eighth child to drown this year in Portugal.

Elsa Rocha, from the  Portuguese Association for the Promotion of Child Safety, said: 'This year alone eight children have died in this country, four of them in the Algarve.

'We need the government to take action.'