A much-loved young man drowned in the River Ouse in York after emergency services did all they could to save him “with the equipment available”, a coroner said today.
Evan D’Andilly entered the water from Ouse Bridge at 3.03am on Wednesday, 5 March, 2025 – four days before his 20th birthday.
Despite staying afloat for 20 minutes and calling for help, no one was able to rescue him. His body was recovered by police divers the next morning.
Evan, described as “enormously loved”, was a student at the University of York. He came to the city from his home of Scunthorpe.
No one knows why he entered the water on the night of his death. But it was clear he was fighting to stay alive once in the river.
Emergency services were at the incident quickly. A police officer threw a lifebelt but it didn’t reach his position in the middle of the river.
The fire service’s rescue boat is based in Selby and didn’t arrive until 14 minutes after Evan had disappeared below the water.
York Rescue Boat volunteers launched at 3.26am, just minutes after he went under.
Constant ‘torture’
Struggling through her tears, his mother Lorraine D’Andilly gave an impact statement to the inquest today.
She said: “Losing a child is the most excruciating pain a mum could experience, but the way Evan died, the traumatic nature, knowing how terrified he must have been, knowing that I wasn’t there with him, not being able to tell him again how much I love him, not being able to say goodbye – all of that makes life almost unbearable.
“This loss is not something I’ll ever recover from.
“I replay Evan’s last 20 minutes over and over, particularly the last couple of weeks. It is torture. I picture him being pulled along in that cold, dark river, shouting for help.
“I picture his body gradually shutting down due to cold water shock and exhaustion, I picture him desperately trying to keep his head above water, groaning in pain, shouting for help again.
“I picture him fighting for his life – for a full 20 minutes – before finally not being able to hold on any longer. I’m so incredibly proud of him, but also so angry – that’s hard to deal with.
“I picture Evan’s young friends and all of the emergency services personnel on the scene, desperately wanting to help, but unable to do anything other than to watch my beautiful boy disappear.
“That is the nightmare I live with every single day and unsurprisingly, I don’t sleep well.
“I hope that as time passes, I’ll be able to focus on all the happy memories of Evan, but right now, that feels like something in a very distant future. I miss him.”
‘No indication he was going to do this’
The youngest of three boys, Evan came from “a loving and supportive family” and “his many qualities shone through”, North Yorkshire coroner Jonathan Leach said today.
“He clearly had a bright future in front of him.”
Evan had suffered from mental health issues in the past but “there’s no evidence this played any part in his death”.
Evan was living in a shared student house while studying at the University of York. On the night he died he had gone into the city centre for drinks with his friends.
A toxicology report found the level of alcohol in his blood was three times the drink drive limit. “There’s no evidence this played any part in his decision to enter the river,” Mr Leach said.
One of his friends said they were talking as they crossed Ouse Bridge and “the next thing Evan’s gone on the wall of the bridge and gone over. It all happened really quickly. I was shocked.
“There was no indication he was going to do this.”
Mr Leach said CCTV footage showed Evan entering the water at 3.03am.
“Within minutes police and fire officers were at the river, on both sides of it,” Mr Leach said.
One officer threw a life ring into the water from the King’s Staith side. But because Evan was in the middle of the 41m-wide river it didn’t reach him. The throw lines police carry with them would not have reached him either, the court was told.
Fire crews on the Queen’s Staith side were unable to get to him as buildings prevented access to the riverside.
‘Acknowledge what went wrong’
A strong swimmer, Evan desperately battled to keep his head above water for 20 minutes. He was last seen at 3.23am.
The North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service boat is kept at Selby. It didn’t arrive until 3.37am.
York Rescue Boat volunteers were also alerted at some time between 3.08am and 3.11am and launched at 3.26am, minutes after Evan had disappeared.
Mr Leach said: “I am satisfied that the police officers and fire officers who attended did all they could to save Evan’s life with the equipment available.”
In his narrative conclusion, the coroner said Evan entered the river from Ouse Bridge at 3.03am on 5 March 2025. “There’s no evidence as to why he did so.”
He said that the cause of death was drowning after immersion in the river. He passed on his condolences to Evan’s parents Gordon and Lorraine, and the rest of the family.
Mrs D’Andilly wants the coroner to issue a Report to Prevent Future Deaths (PFD) following today’s inquest. This would be issued to a person or organisation where the coroner believes they may have power to take relevant action to prevent future deaths.
Mr Leach invited her to contact him within the next ten days setting out her position on him issuing a PFD report.
In a statement after the end of the two-day inquest, Mrs D’Andilly said: “We’re grateful that the coroner recognised the importance of fully examining the circumstances surrounding Evan’s death, and we’re grateful that he has given us the opportunity to provide him with our thoughts on a prevention of future deaths report.
“Nothing can bring Evan back. No finding today can ever lessen the pain of losing him or undo the devastation that our families endured.
“But acknowledging what went wrong is an essential step towards accountability, and more importantly, towards preventing another family from suffering the same heartbreak.
Evan’s father Gordon D’Andilly said after the inquest: “In regards to the response of the emergency services, I’ve got nothing but praise and thanks.
“In relation to the assets that are available, my opinion differs. It’s become apparent that the resources that first of all the police understood were available aren’t there.
“By that I mean the the actual fire rescue boat that was previously in York was decommissioned a number of years before.
“Since that decommissioning, I understand that there’s been a spike in deaths in York. York, as we know, has three times the national average of incidents.”
He finished by saying this about Evan. “He was everything you want in a child. I always say the same thing when I speak to people regarding Evan and Evan’s passing.
“If you’ve got children, give them a hug. You always think you have time. We thought we did, and we miss him desperately.”
