The void can never be filled
Mother’s heartbreak over freak wave that killed her husband and daughter, 2
‘Changed so dramatically’
A FATHER and his daughter aged two were swept to their deaths by a freak wave in front of their family as they fished from rocks on holiday, an inquest heard yesterday.
Rudy Bruynius and little McKayla – who was still in her pram – were washed into the sea with his wife Lisinda when the swell dramatically doubled to 8ft.
Their sons Damian, six, and Tyrone, ten, who had been told to go higher on the rocks, survived and watched the horror in Newquay, Cornwall, in August last year.
After a major RNLI rescue opera- tion lasting ten minutes, Mr Bruynius, 33, was pulled from the sea but was later pronounced dead.
McKayla was also rescued but died in hospital four days later.
Mrs Bruynius, 38, from Morden, Surrey, had only minor injuries. She was too upset to attend the inquest in Truro. In a statement she said: ‘We had been there about 30 minutes and the boys seemed happy. We were all having a nice time and had no concerns.
‘Within five minutes the water had risen to about 6ft. I told the boys to go higher on the rocks. I recall saying “this is not normal”. I have never seen it like that before. A mass of water then came over the top of Rudy, McKayla and I. It came over our heads and came from nowhere.
‘There was no time to say anything when a second stronger mass of water dragged us into the sea.
‘I was really shocked. I do not know how Rudy managed to free McKayla from her buggy but she was in Rudy’s arms.
‘We were both doing our best to keep afloat. I could see Tyrone and Damian screaming. In no time I had drifted 50ft from rocks. There was no way anyone could get to the three of us. I could no longer see McKayla in his arms. We did not have time to react and my sons and I have been left devastated by what happened.’
She said that Mr Bruynius, a landscape gardener from South Africa, was ‘a loving husband and a wonderful father’.
She added: ‘He leaves a void which can never be filled. He was our everything. We love and miss him so much. McKayla, our gorgeous, beautiful baby girl, is forever in my heart and the pain that myself and the boys feel at losing them both is indescribable.
‘We are so grateful to everyone involved in the rescue, especially the RNLI who were relentless in trying to save us, Truro hospital and the Bristol children’s hospital who gave us all such fantastic care, Devon and Cornwall Police and the Cornish community. The last eight months have been extremely difficult. I hope and pray others can learn from this tragedy.’
Chelsey Cawley, who rang the emergency services, said: ‘I heard some adults shouting and saw a man and a woman in the sea. The male was holding a baby girl with blonde hair.
‘They were both screaming and struggling and shouting for help. The baby seemed lifeless. The water was too strong and he was panicking. The waves were about 8 to 10ft and getting bigger. Then I could not see the baby.’
DC Jarrod Yewen, who led the investigation, said: ‘There was no delay in the rescue operation at all.
‘No one there could have foreseen the effects of the weather conditions. It changed so dramatically and so quickly. The swell effectively doubled.’
Coroner Emma Carlyon said: ‘All evidence suggests this was a tragic accident. Both had been washed into the sea when the weather conditions changed dramatically.’ She recorded verdicts of accidental death.