Hero, 61, drowns saving grandsons on holiday island
Boys, 7 and 10, caught by strong current
A BRITISH holidaymaker has drowned trying to save his two grandsons from being swept out to sea.
Jonathan Smith, 61, died after getting into difficulty on Gouves beach in northern Crete.
Mr Smith, from Carluke, Lanarkshire, managed to save the boys from the choppy waters on Tuesday but it was ‘impossible’ for him to get himself to safety.
Yesterday friends said he had recently retired from his parttime job with the NHS and was on holiday with his wife Susan, his daughter and his grandsons.
It is understood the two children, aged seven and ten, got into difficulty in the strong currents off Gouves beach and Mr Smith went into the water to rescue them.
Locals, including two waiters from a nearby restaurant, then reportedly jumped in to try to help too. But the grandfather became trapped near some rocks and lifeguards were unable to save him. His son David described him as a devoted and courageous family man and a huge rugby league fan.
The 34-year-old said: ‘I loved my dad very much. He is my hero. I still can’t believe I’m never going to see him again after he left to go on his holidays.
‘He recently retired from North Lanarkshire council and working for NHS part-time. He was fanatical about rugby league and was a St Helens fan.
‘My family are still over there. I’ve not even asked any questions about what happened – I can’t deal with it.’ He told The Sun: ‘We’re just trying to get him home and have been speaking to the consulate. To be brutally honest I’ve struggled to ask my family the full story. I can’t face talking about it with them, especially when they are still over there.’
Anthee Carassava, a journalist based in Athens, told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme that Mr Smith had been on holiday with his family.
She said: ‘They simply went off for a swim and the two young boys, aged seven and ten, ran into some choppy waters. The grandfather got very upset and unnerved and he went in, tried to save them. He managed to pull them out of these choppy waters but in his bid to actually reach these rocks along the beach he simply got exhausted and it was impossible for him to get out.’
A news website on the island said life-saving aids were thrown out to Mr Smith and the boys.
A local worker told the website: ‘We tried to pull him ashore but the currents were very strong and we could not.’
Yesterday, neighbours in Carluke described Mr Smith as a ‘lovely man’ and a person that would do anything for anyone.
One said: ‘He was a lovely man. Just a really nice person, very friendly and he always waved to us going past.
‘If we were in any need of anything, he was there for you. He is not long retired too. Their two grandkids spent a lot of time with them also.’
Another said: ‘He is so young too, I cannot believe it. He was a lovely man, I have known him for years. I am so shocked.’
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Crete and are in contact with the Greek authorities.’
‘Impossible for him to get out’