TRAGIC COUPLE DROWNED ON HOLIDAY WHEN CAUGHT IN RIPTIDE
Man jumped in sea to save fiancee, before both were swept away
A COUPLE drowned in Portugal after one of them was swept away by the sea and her partner tried in vain to rescue her.
Kim Fletcher and her fiancé Danny Johnson had been holidaying at a spiritual retreat when their group went on a trip to the beach at Zambujeira do Mar.
An inquest heard yesterday that both of them were known to be good swimmers.
But when 34-year-old yoga teacher Kim went into the water, she is thought to have been dragged away by the riptide.
Witnesses described seeing Danny go to her aid before he also got into difficulties near the rocky area.
Onlookers called the emergency services as surfers scrambled to help the pair.
Nuno Fonseca, who recalled how the sea conditions seemed ‘quite agitated with a strong swell’ that afternoon, said there was a ‘frenzy’ as people tried to reach them.
He added: “One of the individuals was rescued on a stretcher and given first aid.
“The other individual was rescued by helicopter.”
Kim, of Sideway Road, Stoke, was the first to be brought to shore. As Danny, a rap artist and security officer, had been found in part of the cove that was difficult to reach, the operation to help him proved trickier.
Despite people’s best efforts, both drowned.
Thirty-three-year-old Danny, of Vicarage Lane, Madeley, had been eagerly anticipating their beach trip on October 6, 2019.
Peter Barrett, who owned the retreat, said in a statement: “He was really excited about going as it was a lovely location. It was a glorious day.
“On that particular day, the sea was rather rough and it was quite windy.
“It was also quite busy as there were a lot of visitors on the beach.” Peter had gone off to buy food when he received a frantic call from his son, alerting him to the drama in the sea.
He was told Kim appeared to have been ‘clinging to a rock and was in trouble’ and Danny had sprung to her aid.
The inquest heard there were no lifeguards on duty at the beach as the official bathing season had ended.
But Peter added: “Everyone who was there was able to do everything they could to help out.”
Kim and Danny, who had a young daughter together as well as Kim’s older daughter, have been described as ‘two beautiful souls’ who lit up the lives of others.
Since their deaths, friends and family have raised thousands of pounds in their memory.
North Staffordshire coroner Andrew Barkley said he was sadly unable to answer all the families’ questions about what happened that day.
He concluded both deaths were due to misadventure.