Great-grandmother who could not swim drowns after jumping into river to save dog
A GREAT-GRANDMOTHER drowned in a river after jumping in to save her pet dog which managed to survive, an inquest has heard.
Despite being unable to swim, it is believed 80-year-old Millie Smith got into the water to save her poodle-cross Jasper after it got into difficulty while they were out for a walk. But she was swept away and was spotted by a walker, face down in the river, hours later – while the dog was found sitting on the bank.
Her husband Bev, to whom she had been married for 61 years, said she would have done anything to save fouryear-old Jasper. Mr Smith, 79, said: “She had always loved dogs.” He explained that the dog belonged to their daughter, who is a busy working mother, so he and Mrs Smith took Jasper on. “Millie fell in love with him and would have done anything for him,” he said.
Mrs Smith had taken Jasper out for its daily walk near Bromham Mill, Bedfordshire, on January 15, when her husband received a phone call from two women who had found Jasper at the side of the river. He and his family rushed to the scene, where they found the dog “dripping wet”.
With Mrs Smith nowhere to be seen, they called police, who later broke the news to the family that her body had been found downstream.
In a message read out to Bedfordshire Coroners’ Court, her family said they believed her dog had “fallen in the river” and Mrs Smith went in to try to save it. Coroner Ian Pears recorded her death as accidental.