Family tribute as boy named in Rudyard Lake tragedy

The family of a boy who tragically died after being found in Rudyard Lake have issued a heartfelt tribute to him.

Sonny Leese Clark, aged 17, who was a local lad from Leek, was spending time with his two friends at the site on Saturday night (24 February).

At some point, they got into difficulty and fell in the water. The two other boys managed to get to safety and were assessed at the scene by paramedics from West Midlands Ambulance Service.

They were taken to hospital but have since been discharged.

Sadly, at about 5pm yesterday (25 February), we recovered Sonny from the water.

We have been offering our support to his family as much as we possibly can after the tragic news yesterday. The search efforts involved an array of emergency services, as well as volunteers who gave countless hours of their time to try and find him from the Cheshire and Staffordshire Search and Rescue charities.

In a touching tribute, Sonny’s family said: “Sonny - our lovely, kind, good-natured boy. You had grown into a fantastic young man. Always helpful, adventurous, fearless and quick to smile. You were a very special and wonderful brother to your siblings, and our lives are diminished for your loss. We love you and always will. 17 and his life was just beginning the next chapter, his book was too short.”

We know this incident has caused a great deal of sorrow in the local community and has affected so many people who knew him personally.

Our thoughts and condolences remain with his family at this unprecedented and tragic time.

We’d like to thank those who’ve left kind messages and sent their condolences to Sonny’s family, and we ask that their privacy is respected at this time.