Family remember Nathan

Three races at Oxford Greyhound Stadium were run in his name to mark the third anniversary of his death during a school swimming lesson at Thame Leisure Centre on July 12, 2004.

His parents Penny and Terry Matthews, and five brothers and sisters, of Foresters in Water End, sponsored the first race.

Penny, 36, said Nathan had claimed the family dog - a Sheltie named Sprite - as his own and the pair had become so inseparable that Sprite died exactly a month to the day after Nathan.

She said: "Nathan loved dogs. He claimed Sprite as his. He walked him everyday and told him all his troubles.

"People used to say to me, what on earth will Nathan do when Sprite dies? But in the end, it was just awful that Nathan went before he did.

"Sprite was never the same after Nathan died, he was heartbroken. He wouldn't go into Nathan's bedroom and he wasn't the same with us. He died a month after Nathan. He was 15-years-old."

Another race was sponsored by Penny's parents Brian and Jean Watson, of Abbey Barn Road, High Wycombe.

Family and friends tried their luck placing bets on the night, donating all their winnings to the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA), a charity that has helped the family to campaign for answers about how Nathan died.

Penny said: "It was a successful night. My dad had a really successful night - he seemed to win on every race - but some of us didn't do very well at all. I haven't counted it all up yet, but people keep handing me envelopes. There were loads of family and friends amongst the public. I kept bumping into people I knew everywhere I turned."

A third race was sponsored by anti-drowning charities Swimsafe and SenTAG. Banners and announcements around the stadium told spectators about Nathan's tragic story.

Penny added: "We did this for three reasons - to remember Nathan's love of dogs, to raise money for the CCA and to raise drowning awareness."

An inquest has still not been held into how Nathan died.