A teenage girl who died after she was pulled unconscious from a lake was desperately trying to rescue her 10-year-old cousin as he drifted away from her in a boat.

The family of Kajil Devi, 15, a pupil at Feltham Community College, paid tribute to her today, saying she will “never be forgotten”.

Kajil was on holiday with her family at the Cotswold Water Park, in Gloucestershire, when she slipped in a bathing area as she tried to help her young cousin at about 3.45pm on Sunday.

The 10-year-old threw her a rope but she fell again and disappeared under water.

A lifeguard tried to resuscitate Kajil and she was taken by ambulance to Great Western Hospital but she died the following day.

Her brother Amid Kumar, 17, said: “She sacrificed herself to save my cousin, she saved that little kid’s life.

"She could have gone to ask someone for help but that’s the thing about caring people, they don’t think they just do it.

“We love her and she will never be forgotten.”

Kajil’s friends and pupils at Feltham Community College, where she was one of the top students, have flooded a tribute site on Facebook with messages.

Matt Philp wrote: “You were the brightest and kindest out of any of us and your future had success written all over it. You didn’t care what anyone else said you always smiled and most of all you made other people smile, which is amazing just like you.

“It just doesn’t seem real that you’re gone but still you’re not gone as your spirit stays here with us.”

George Martin said: “You put in 100 per cent into everything that you loved. It always paid off with A* and As. You were the most intelligent person in our year, and even the school.

“You had a good future ahead of you, and you did not deserve to die so early with so much to accomplish. You will always remain in our hearts and everyone who knew you will never forget you.”

Her Hindu family, of South Road, Hanworth, held a ritual at a Southall temple on Wednesday, where Kajil’s grieving mother fainted.

Amid said: “My mum and dad just can’t take it in.”

Witness Ben Greenaway, who was sitting on the nearby beach, said: “It was a horrible experience - one of the worst things I have seen.

“I was sitting on the shore with my daughter and this family called the lifeguards over saying they could not find her.

“About five minutes later a couple of children dragged a body out of the lake right where my daughter was playing.”