‘Funny guy’ died on tragic trip to seaside
INQUEST TOLD MAN WHO COULDN’T SWIM DROWNED AFTER GETTING INTO DIFFICULTY IN WATER
A MAN drowned after getting into difficulty in the water during a seaside trip, an inquest found.
Tomas Yohannes, who lived in Salford, lost his life while spending a day at the beach in Fleetwood, Lancashire, on July 17.
The 29-year-old was swimming in the sea with work colleague Teame Kidane when the pair began to struggle.
As they attempted to swim back to the shore, Teame was rescued by another friend. But when he turned around, Tomas, who couldn’t swim, was nowhere to be seen.
A major search involving lifeboats and a helicopter was subsequently launched. It lasted for five hours until Tomas’s body was found face down in the water. An inquest into his death was held at Preston Coroners Court.
Assistant Coroner Sara Sutherland read a statement from Mr Kidane, who said they entered the water with pals. In his statement, Teame said he started to get tired and ‘couldn’t put my feet on the floor.’ “I shouted for help because I was drinking water – at first I think they thought I was joking. Tomas went towards the shore to get help,” Teame said.
“I heard him shout ‘can you help me I’m struggling myself ’ but I was drinking water, I wasn’t able to look back as I was trying to get to the shore.
“My friend came to help me – he was able to help me back to the shore. I looked towards Tomas and I couldn’t see him. Someone called the police.”
Another colleague, Fars Brhane, said: “I went out and I took hold of Teame, I couldn’t stand up, I told him not to panic and drag me down,” Fars said in a statement.
“It was scary and I was tired. Teame started saying ‘Tomas, Tomas’ but I couldn’t see Tomas at all.”
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, the coroner said: “This is a tragic case where a young man has lost his life.
“Tomas attended the beach with work friends and very sadly Tomas got into difficulty and disappeared below the water line. Andrew Carroll from the Coastguard confirmed the extensive search carried out by multiple agencies in an attempt to recover Tomas. When the body was recovered he had already died having been submerged in water for some time.”
After Tomas’s death, his brother, Weldu, paid tribute to the ‘happy’ and ‘hard-working’ young man.
“He had a lot of horrible things that happened to him in his life but he was happy here,” Weldu said.
“He was going to college to get better at English. He was really hard-working. In his free time he loved to play table tennis and football and we all used to enjoy hanging out here together. He used to work six days a week so he wanted to spend his one day off at the beach. He was a funny guy. He was very sociable and everyone really respected him. Tomas was a really honest person and very family orientated.”
A GoFundMe page was set up in the aftermath to raise the money to cover the costs of flying Tomas’s body back to Africa, where he was originally from. The fundraiser generated more than £7,400.
He used to work six days a week so he wanted to spend his one day off at the beach Brother Weldu