Phil Crow
A grandfather died while rescuing his nine-year-old granddaughter after a sudden change in sea conditions pulled members of his family into deeper water at a beach in Cornwall, UK.Phil Crow, 68, suffered a cardiac arrest in the sea at Tregirls Beach near Padstow on bank holiday Monday after helping save his granddaughter, Sia Briskham, and wife Tina Crow.According to family members, the trio had been in the water when conditions changed unexpectedly and they began drifting away from shore.Tina Crow told the Daily Mail that the family had been enjoying the waves when they suddenly found themselves unable to touch the seabed.“We were jumping up with the waves then all of a sudden we couldn’t hit the floor when we landed,” she said. “It was deeper and was pulling us out.”She said her husband concentrated on helping their granddaughter reach safety as the situation worsened.“He was pushing her feet and just shouting, ‘Swim, swim, swim,’” she recalled. “He pushed her to safety, but doing so meant he couldn’t get back himself.”Sia was eventually brought ashore by members of the public, while Tina was rescued by a passing boat and later checked by a paramedic. Family members said around 15 people joined efforts to help those caught in the water.Mr Crow, a retired stonemason and lifelong Padstow resident, was pronounced dead at the scene despite the response of emergency services.His daughter, Mel Thomas, said the family viewed his final actions as an act of sacrifice.“He died a hero and wouldn’t have had it any other way,” she said. “He saved his granddaughter’s life. She’s safe because of what he did.”Thomas said her father adored his five grandchildren and had always been fiercely protective of them.The family said they had visited the same beach for decades and described the incident as a devastating shock.Coastguard teams, the Rock RNLI lifeboat crew and Cornwall Air Ambulance attended the emergency.Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were called at around 3.50pm following reports of a man suffering a cardiac arrest in the sea.“Emergency services and the RNLI attended the scene but sadly, the local man in his 60s was pronounced deceased at the scene,” a police spokesperson said as quoted by Daily Mail.Police said the death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.Mr Crow’s death came during a bank holiday period that saw large numbers of people visit beaches and open-water swimming locations across the UK amid unusually warm weather.
