Beach patrol ‘dithered’ as grandad died saving girls
Coroner’s attack on lifeguards
A CORONER has criticised lifeguards for ‘dithering’ at the water’s edge as a grandfather died helping to rescue two girls from the sea.
Richard Guest, 74, had been walking along the beach with his wife Margaret when he heard screams and went to the stricken girls’ aid – but he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Recording a death by misadventure, coroner Peter Brunton criticised the beach patrol at Tywyn, West Wales.
He told the inquest in Aberystwyth: ‘The beach patrol marshals did not seem to assist the rescue effort in any way and dithered on the coastline unsure of whether or not to go in.
‘They played no part, they remained totally passive as far as this tragic event was concerned.
‘This in itself is a great cause for concern, what is the point of having mar- shals if they don’t enter the sea?’ The girls, both 13, from shropshire, had been in the water for some time but were knocked off their feet by the increasingly large waves and were being dragged out of their depth, causing them to panic and cry for help, the inquest was told.
Mr Guest, a grandfather of four from Walsall, rushed to their aid, along with another holidaymaker, stephen Adams.
But Mr Guest suffered a heart attack brought on by an existing condition he knew nothing about.
In a statement, Mr Guest’s family said that they had not known about his heart condition, but it would not have stopped him trying to rescue the girls in July.
‘It’s just the sort of thing he would do,’ they said.
The coroner told the retired bank manager’s family: ‘You have my profound sympathies, I realise your whole family has been shaken by the horrible events of that day. He entered the water in an act of great selflessness, in order to save the lives of two young girls – a decision which had catastrophic results.’
speaking after the inquest, Mr Guest’s daughter, Ceri Donavan, said: ‘There were beach patrol marshals there but no one did anything. I think it raises serious questions about safety at that particular beach.’
speaking at the inquest, the second rescuer, Mr Adams, said conditions had been ‘absolutely atrocious’.
He said he and Mr Guest had ‘locked eyes’ and tacitly agreed to enter the water together, despite being about 50 metres apart.
They reached the teenagers at about the same time. One girl wrapped her arms around Mr Adams’ neck and they turned to swim back to shore.
The waves were ‘disorientating’ and it was difficult for them to keep their heads above water as they swam back, the inquest heard.
The pair managed to make it to a team who had rushed into the water to help the rescue effort, and the girl was brought to shore on another rescuer’s surfboard.
In the chaos, the other teenager had also managed to make her way to back to the beach.
unaware of this, Mr Adams swam back to see if he could help and found Mr Guest face-down in the water.
The waves were so relentless Mr Adams could not keep him face-up.
He made the ‘most difficult decision’ to head back to beach and not endanger himself further, he said.
‘Great cause for concern’