Family given verdict on tragic son Isaac
THE family of a schoolboy who drowned after being swept out to sea have told of their desperate attempts to save him.
Isaac Nash died after getting into difficulty at Aberffraw on Anglesey with his brother Xander.
His dad, Adam, managed to save Xander but Isaac, 12, was washed out to sea, an inquest at Llangefni heard yesterday.
Senior Coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said the cause of death was probably drowning and gave a conclusion of death by misadventure.
Isaac had been on holiday with his parents, Adam and Zoe, and his grandfather Paul.
He was considered a strong swimmer but struggled after being caught in the tide.
Mum Zoe, from Huddersfield, said: “The boys were playing in the sea jumping over waves, and we noticed they were going further right.”
Grandad Paul, who has been visiting the beach since he was five, said they became worried when the boys kept being pulled towards rocks.
Paul, 62, said: “The pair were getting pulled further and further out and by the time I had stripped to my shorts the sea was up to their neck.
“When I reached them both they were panicking and climbing on top of me. They were grabbing at me, pushing me, pulling me under the water.”
He added: “A wave hit me and I lost them both.”
Dad Adam managed to rescue Xander after rushing into the sea when he heard Isaac shout for help. Adam said: “It was more of a shriek out of desper- ation.”
He swam out “about 150 to 200 metres” to rescue his son. “I thought that I needed to get to Xander rather than Isaac,” he said. “The waves were coming over his face.
“I consider myself a good swimmer but by the time we (himself and Xander) reached the shore, I was exhausted.”
Despite being buffeted by strong waves, Paul managed to reach Isaac again.
He said: “I could see Isaac was going toward the rocks and really struggling so I swam to him.
“I got hold of him, a big wave hit us, we got separated. I lost him. I tried my best to find him. I was shouting ‘Isaac, Isaac!’ But I couldn’t see or hear anything.”
Isaac’s body has never been found despite a huge search after the tragedy last August.
Speaking after the inquest, Paul Nash said the family wanted to express their thanks to members of the public and the emergency services for their help.
He said: “We will continue to visit Aberffraw, probably even more so now we have left one of our own behind there. The response from the local community and the emergency services was absolutely incredible, we could not have asked for anything more.”