Boy dies two weeks after falling into icy pond

A six-year-old boy who fell into an icy pond while playing with a friend died in hospital today.

Thomas Hudson, known as Tommy, is thought to have been under water for half an hour before he was pulled out of the six foot-deep pond in the garden of a house in Crookham Common, near Thatcham, Berkshire, on January 5.

He was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, where he was fighting for his life until he died "peacefully" today, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust said.

Tommy's playmate raised the alarm after he fell into the water during the cold snap.

A woman, thought to have been one of Tommy's relatives, was already in the water searching for him when emergency services arrived and needed to be examined by paramedics.

Tommy was blue and unresponsive when he came out of the water, but it was hoped his young age could improve his chances of survival. He was airlifted to hospital where he underwent an operation.

It is not known if the boy was attempting to walk on the ice, or accidentally fell on to it, but paramedic Hugh Whitaker, one of the first on the scene, urged others to stay away from frozen ponds.

Thames Valley Police launched an investigation into how the boy came to fall into the pond, in Burys Banks Road, near Newbury Racecourse.

Local councillor Peter Ellison, a neighbour of the Hudson family, said the whole community would be saddened by news of the schoolboy's death.

He said: "I'm extremely sorry to hear that a young lad has passed away in such a tragic way. We were all hoping that, having lived this long, he would survive.

"I'm worried about the ponds on the common, which are very similar to this pond. People do play on them and there's nothing to stop people falling in."

The incident is not being treated as suspicious by police.