Family’s tragic battle to save boy of 12 from being swept out to sea
THE father of a boy of 12 who drowned after being swept out to sea during a family holiday last night relived the desperate battle to rescue his son from the waves.
Isaac Nash was swimming off the coast of Anglesey, North Wales, with his brother Xander on Friday when they got into difficulties.
Their father Adam was able to swim out to save ten-year- old Xander, but Isaac was carried away.
The boys’ grandfather had also swum out to rocks to help and managed to grab hold of Isaac, but they were hit by a huge wave which pulled the boy from his grip.
Mr Nash, 35, a creative designer, said: ‘He couldn’t hold on to him. There was a lot of seaweed on the rocks which was very slippery.
‘ He kept saying, “He has gone, he has gone”.’
The family, from Highburton, West Yorkshire, had been enjoying a camping holiday in Wales and climbed Mount Snowdon before travelling to Anglesey.
Mr Nash said he had told his sons to stay in shallow water off the coast of Aberffraw, but they had got into difficul-
‘It was an absolute blur’
ties after swimming further out to look at barnacles on some rocks.
He said: ‘It was quite a windy day and the waves were big. Isaac was a good swimmer, a strong, sporty lad. Xander is younger and not so strong.
‘My dad had been waving at them and shouting but they couldn’t hear him.’
Mr Nash said his father, Paul, 61, then swam out to where the boys were near the rocks.
He said: ‘ As he swam towards them Isaac was shouting. I could sense they were panicking.’
Still in his trousers, Mr Nash also dived into the sea and swam towards Xander but they kept getting hit by waves and being separated.
He said: ‘We were both quite far out, we were going out to sea. I couldn’t even turn round to see what was going on with Isaac.
‘As soon as I got my feet down I turned round and looked for my dad. He was washed up on to the rocks and just laid flat.
‘His face was just screwed up and there was blood dripping from his arms and legs.
‘He said: “I couldn’t save him, I couldn’t save him.” It was an absolute blur after that.
‘I remember the ambulance being there and our going in it to Bangor Hospital. We were all in shock.’
RNLI lifeboats, an RAF Sea King helicopter and police searched the seas in ‘ horrendous’ conditions after the incident on Friday afternoon.
Police underwater teams joined the search for Isaac on Saturday, which continued into yesterday evening in calmer weather, but there was still no signs of his body.
The popular and sporty schoolboy was just about to start his final year at Kirkburton Middle School.
Last night family and friends united in tribute to Isaac, whose father described him as a thrillseeking boy with a cheeky sense of humour and great sense of mischief. His mother Zoe, 35, a teacher, wrote on Facebook: ‘We have been lucky to have an amazing and special boy for 12 years.
‘We were so proud of him and he will always be with us.’
She described the search efforts by the RNLI, police and local residents as ‘amazing’.
Isaac’s best friend, Joe Lockwood, described him as ‘one of the nicest people I’ve ever met’ and said he was ‘always smiling’.
He was a member of his school’s cricket team, which won the North of England Kwik Cricket Championships last year, and was successful in athletics and tae kwon do.
Friends plan to hold a balloon and lantern tribute to Isaac tonight to raise money for the RNLI.
Two weeks ago a two-year-old girl nearly drowned on the same beach after she started struggling in the water. Angela Whittingham was saved by a passing jetskier who pulled her from the sea.