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The family of a Bulgarian man who drowned saving a child at West Wittering has paid tribute.
They say the death of 31-year-old Plamen Petkov has left them "
incredibly sad to have lost such a special person"
, but added that they are "
immensely proud"
that he saved a five-year-old girl.
Plamen Petkova, (pictured right) was walking along the beach with a friend on Saturday, when he heard a mother calling for help. Her child was being blown out to sea in strong winds.
He waded into the sea to rescue the 5-year-old girl who was in trouble on a rubber ring.
He passed her to a waiting woman - who was not related to either the child or the victim - on the afternoon of Saturday 26th May.
'huge gap'
The man, a Bulgarian national living in Sutton in Surrey, was unable to get back to shore himself and was recovered unconscious from the water, a short time later by others on West Wittering beach.
Members of the public and emergency workers attempted to resuscitate the victim for around 40 minutes before the arrival of the Sussex Air Ambulance, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was not related to the child, who was on the beach with her family from north-west London.
In a statement, Mr. Petkov's family said: "
We are grateful for the messages of support from everyone Plamen came into contact with both in and out of work – he leaves a huge gap in our lives and will be missed by us all.
"
We would like to thank his friend and the woman for the huge effort they made to try to save Plamen’s life and to people for the kind comments made about Plamen and his part in returning the child safely to the shore.
The family went on to ask for suggestions to award him with a posthumous honour for his actions.
They have also called for better safety at beaches such as West Wittering, such as stationed lifeguards to prevent a repeat of Saturday's events. They added: "
The family are looking at how they might support the local community in this area who share this concern in the hope that these changes might be an appropriate way of honouring Plamen’s name and courageous act.”
A post-mortem examination carried out on Tuesday 29th May revealed the cause of death to be drowning.
The beach has its own lifeguard service. A spokesman for Sussex Police said afterwards: "
It is clear that this was a tragic accident, and there is no further police investigation. The matter is being referred to the Coroners Officer."
Coastguards are warning against using inflatable toys in the sea when the wind is offshore - or blowing away from the land.
They stress that if blow-ups are used, they should be tethered to an adult on the shore.
Martin Rudwick, who works at nearby Selsey Lifeboat, told Spirit FM rescues of these types always carry a risk:
"
It's a very dangerous thing to take on. The RNLI lifeguards are trained and it is a specialised thing. You need to know how to deal with people in the water that are obviously very frightened and in a panic situation."
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Wed May 30, 2012 5:58 pm
