Father dies after rescuing son from drowning

A FATHER died in the hospital he worked in after drowning while rescuing his young son off the Welsh coast.

Benny Collins, 40, was caught up in a riptide and swept out to sea at the picturesque Three Cliffs Bay, South Wales, which has now claimed three lives in two years. The NHS physiotherapist had swum out to save his nine-year-old son Harry on Tuesday afternoon. His son was rescued alongside him and treated in hospital.

His own colleagues tried to revive him after he was rushed to Morriston Hospital in Swansea where he worked in the accident and emergency department. His wife Melanie, 42, also works there as a senior nurse.

Becky Gammon, a senior nurse, said: ‘We were initially unaware it was Benny who was coming to us as an emergency but when he arrived in the department we recognised him and it was such a shock.

‘His death is extremely upsetting and we feel so devastated for Mel and her family.’