Paddle boarder drowns in front of family on beach trip

A PADDLE boarder who could not swim died during his first attempt at the sport on a family day out at the beach, an inquest heard yesterday.

Builder Julian Luffman, 51, died of cardiac arrest after using the paddle board at Lepe Beach in the New Forest, Hampshire on Aug 28 last year.

Olesya, his wife, told a hearing in Winchester that her husband suffered from spondylitis – inflammation of the spine – which meant he had limited movement in his shoulders and neck.

Despite the fact that he could not swim, Mr Luffman, from Southampton, became interested in paddle boarding and had done research before buying two inflatable boards for their family about a month before his death.

Mrs Luffman said she was using her windsurfing board half a mile out while her son and daughter were sat on one of the boards closer to the beach. She said her husband stood up and fell feet first into the water as he tried to turn the board around, with his head going underwater.

Mrs Luffman told the inquest she took her board over to her husband and attempted to hold him above the water.

She added: “I was screaming and screaming and screaming. He was just not responding, his hands slipped away. I knew he was dead already.”

Coroner Jason Pegg said a post mortem showed the cause of death was cardiac arrest caused by vasovagal attack and immersion in water.

Recording a narrative conclusion, Mr Pegg said: “Mr Luffman had no swimming ability at all. [His] death was a direct consequence of being underwater, swallowing water, that stopped him breathing.”