Teenager drowned at beach named as Brazilian tourist
A TEENAGER who died after getting into difficulties in the sea has been named as Brazilian tourist Gustavo Silva Da Cruz.
Gustavo, 19, drowned at Camber Sands in East Sussex on Sunday.
A brave 35-year-old father and his 17-year-old son, who were not known to Gustavo, rushed into the water to try to help him.
But the pair also struggled in the water and both suffered cardiac arrests.
They were flown to hospital in Ashford, Kent, and last night remained in a critical condition.
Robert Manning, of the Bavarian Beach Grill, said: “All of a sudden a woman started screaming that the boy was in trouble. One man whipped his watch and clothes off and ran down to the sea. The other man followed.”
Rescuers failed to find Gustavo, but a member of the public discovered his body nearly six hours after he went missing.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, with Sussex Police confirming his death is not being treated as suspicious. The youngster had been in the UK since January to see his father, Gutenberg, who lives in Croydon, south London, and who has now posted a picture of a black rose on Facebook.
Gustavo was due to return to Brazil next month. A fundraising GoFundMe page was set up to raise money to send his body back to Brazil, where he lived with his grandparents and mother.
An estimated 15,000 people were on the beach at the time. Josh Jones, 18, who works at the Kit Kat Cafe there, later called for lifeguards to patrol the shoreline.