Lake death family pay tribute to toddler

8 September 2011, 16:23 | Updated: 8 September 2011, 16:39

Kai Game's mum and dad have spoken about their loss after weekend tragedy.

Neil Game, a Thorpe Wood policeman and his 35 year-old wife Tammy Game, a prison officer at HMP Peterborough, have told Heart how much they miss him and his cheeky smile.

At the time of Kai’s disappearance 34 year-old Neil and wife Tammy, were putting up a tent with Rabi Singh, who is Kai’s godfather and Neil’s friend, and Paul and Sam Redgate, who are close friends of the family.

Tammy realised Kai was missing and raised the alarm. A short while later Neil found his son in the lake and jumped in to get him out. He brought him to shore and made repeated unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him before the arrival of paramedics.

In a joint statement today, Neil and Tammy said:

"We feel devastated and numb. It feels like it’s not real and we just want him here running around. We look at his picture and we just want him to be here, with that cheeky grin.  We miss him so much. Reality itself hasn’t really sunk in yet. We can’t imagine him not coming back. We haven’t been back home yet because we can’t bring ourselves to it. It couldn’t have happened to a more loving and caring child – it’s awful.

It just happened so quickly, in seconds, and we hope it acts as a warning to other parents because we wouldn’t want anyone else to go through something like this. People should give their children a kiss and tell them they love them because you never know what’s around the corner. We would give anything to have the opportunity to do that again.”

Neil and Tammy also thanked everyone who has supported them since the tragedy.

"We want to give a big thank-you to everyone for their support. The police have been amazing and have been on the phone every day. Friends and family have been a massive support and have done so much running around. The support has been overwhelming”.

Describing Kai, they said:

"He was so laid back and easy going and he didn’t have a care in the world. He was loving and cheeky and he never had tantrums. He’d play on he floor with his toys but he’d come over and give you a cuddle without being asked and then stay with you. We have two other children, Jordan aged 16 and Chloe who's 10, and he just followed them everywhere. He would get the X-box controller and sit there pressing the buttons. He was just learning to speak and we had recently moved him from his cot into a bed.

"He just loved being around people. People would come round he hadn’t met before and he would cry when they had to go. He loved playing all the time and was everyone’s best friend – an amazing little boy.”

Kai’s godfather Rabi Singh said:

"Kai was a beautiful boy who brought so much happiness to everyone. His playful soul and cheeky smile will stay in our hearts forever. He was our ray of sunshine and will be truly missed by us all.”