A FORMER student at Kingsmead School, Wiveliscombe, has died in a drowning tragedy in Cambodia.

Steven Griffiths, 21, flew to Cambodia in January to achieve his dream of travelling.

The youngster, who had only just learned to swim, got into difficulty while swimming in a river.

Steven’s mother, Nicole Cording, said her son, who had been working as a cook at Coco Boutique, on Kohrong Island, had been for his daily swim in the River Kampot in an inflatable ring.

“He got into difficulty and was waving for help, but then he went under and wasn’t seen until his body washed up the next day,” she said. “He wasn’t a strong swimmer and had only learned to swim since he’d been in Cambodia.”

Steven was brought up in Cotford St Luke, where he attended the village primary school, before going to Kingsmead School and briefly to Richard Huish College in Taunton.

He worked for a time at the Skylark pub and restaurant near Wellington and in the pathology lab at Musgrove Park Hospital, before moving to Weston-super-Mare where he was a cook at the Imperial pub.

Steven’s sister Elesha, 19, who is expecting a baby, learned of his death when a police officer called at the family house with the sad news.

She wrote on Facebook: “It’s such an honour to have called him my brother. He’s the funniest, smartest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around.”