A two-year-old girl is fighting for her life and her father has died after the family was swept off rocks into the sea at Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall. The incident occurred on Friday at around 5:20 pm when the family, from Surrey, were fishing from rocks and were dragged into the water by large waves.
The mother, in her 30s, was rescued by an RNLI lifeguard using a jetski, while the father and toddler were recovered from the sea by an RNLI lifeboat. Two other children managed to climb back onto the rocks and were taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital with minor injuries.
The father and daughter were airlifted to hospital by separate helicopters, but the man was later declared dead. The little girl remains in a serious condition, and the mother sustained minor injuries and is also in hospital. Formal identification has not yet been carried out.
Eyewitness Grant Purvis described the scene as heartbreaking, praising the swift response of emergency services. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency confirmed the rescue operation involved Newquay Coastguard Rescue Team, two RNLI lifeboats, a Coastguard helicopter, police, and paramedics.
