At the beginning of July, Samuel Oluwagbenga, 17, was on his way to an end of term school trip.
Bound for the seaside resort of West Wittering in West Sussex, he called his mum Taiwo on the coach telling her he had got there on time and had everything packed for his day at the beach.
Taiwo could hear his friends chatting in the background, she was at home and about to get ready for her night shift.
She didn’t know that would be the last time she heard her son’s voice.
Samuel got into difficulty in the water around lunchtime.
After being rescued by the coastguard, he was airlifted to a hospital in Chichester, where he later died.
Once she’d rushed to the hospital, Taiwo, who has English as a second language, struggled to understand the doctors who were informing her of her child’s death.
“When they told me that my son could not make it. I didn’t understand, what you mean by ‘the child can’t make it?’ My brain struggled, I struggled to register what they meant by ‘he can’t make it’,” she said.
Eventually with the help of family, Taiwo understood she was never going to get her son back again.
“I can’t be myself again. I have nobody to care for me, only Samuel,” she said.
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Mother feels she is being left in the dark
Samuel had only been in the UK for a year.
He had adapted quickly, making friends at school, attending church every weekend and was even a futsal coach in his spare time.
Samuel had wanted to go to university to study IT, he was good at it and multimedia too. Each Sunday he would use his skills to help out his church group.
A month on from his death and his mother feels she is being left in the dark about what happened that day.
“Nobody has given me any answers. We are yet to get an update from the school,” she said.
“My son went and he didn’t come back. Fifty children went and only my son didn’t come back.”
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‘Samuel looked after me’
Samuel was his six-year-old brother’s hero, Taiwo tells me the two were inseparable.
The family haven’t returned to their home since Samuel’s death.
Everything about it reminds them of him, Taiwo said. “Samuel looked after me, he didn’t allow me to suffer,” she added.
“Despite being a single mother, Samuel never let me feel like I was alone. He supported me throughout.
“He would cook for me, drop his brother to school, I have asthma and Samuel would always check if I was okay and when he would notice I was struggling to speak, he would go to the fridge to bring me my inhaler.
“He always looked after his brother and now, his brother asks where Samuel is and when he will come back?
“My youngest doesn’t want to go home, he doesn’t want to go to our house.
“He doesn’t want to stay there. If we go back home, he will start to cry because he constantly asks where is his brother that he plays with?”
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Police say they have provided family with ‘regular updates’
A spokesperson from Sussex Police told Sky News: “Our thoughts remain with Taiwo Olagunju and Samuel’s wider family and friends, and we understand their need for answers.
“We are continuing to work in conjunction with our partners at the Health and Safety Executive and have provided the family with regular updates on our enquiries.
“Although Samuel drowned, the reasons how this occurred will be formally determined by the coroner at inquest.
“As part of our investigations to date, we have taken witness statements from a number of people present on the day, developed a detailed timeline of events, and are reviewing relevant policies and procedures. We will continue to liaise with the family throughout this process.”
School offers ‘sincerest condolences and sympathy’
Uxbridge College, who organised the trip, told Sky News: “Our sincerest condolences and sympathy remain with Samuel’s family.
“We want the family to know that they can continue to contact us at any time and we will update them as soon as we have any further information that the police confirm we are able to share with them.
“We will continue to do everything we can to support them at this difficult time.
“Together we await the findings of the police investigation to understand the circumstances of the events surrounding the tragic accident.”
The family is waiting for answers – while living with the most unimaginable grief.
