A two-year-old girl, who along with her parents was swept out to sea at Newquay on 19 August, has died. Both the UK Coastguard and the RNLI are urging people to respect safety warnings.

24 August

The mother of two-year-old Mckayla Bruynius has paid tribute to her daughter and her late husband after they both died after being swept out to sea.

The toddler, who was rescued by the RNLI, was receiving treatment in hospital but died last night.

Her father, Rudy Bruynius also died in the incident which happened at Newquay on 19 August..

In a statement released via Devon and Cornwall Police, Lisinda Bruynius said:

“Rudy was a loving, caring and supportive husband, father and friend. He had a great sense of humour and was an active person. He always put other people first. Mckayla was a busy bee and always happy.

“I am in disbelief at what has happened. I am so shocked at how quickly the sea condition changed on that day whilst we were enjoying a family time together in Cornwall. I pray that others can learn from our tragedy as I do not wish for anybody to go through our grief.

“I would like to thank the RNLI, the staff at Royal Cornwall Hospital, the staff from Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, the emergency services and all the members of public for their generous support and prayers they have given towards my family.

“I would especially like to thank the people of Cornwall for their messages of love and offers of help. I will never forget the close community spirit displayed towards us. Please respect our privacy at this really difficult time and allow my sons and I to try to come to terms with what has happened.”

The family of five were on rocks at South Fistral Beach around 5.20pm when three of them, Rudy, Lisinda and Mckayla, were washed into the sea by a large wave.

The RNLI lifeboat, Coastguard helicopter, lifeguards from North Fistral, police, air ambulance and ambulance crews attended the scene.

Rudy and Lisinda were rescued from the water by RNLI lifeguards. Lifeguards carried out CPR on Rudy before he was airlifted by the air ambulance to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. He died in hospital on Friday evening.

Mckayla was recovered from the sea by an RNLI lifeboat before being flown to Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. She was later transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital where she died on Tuesday night.

The family’s two sons managed to stay on the rocks and were located by the Coastguard. They sustained minor injuries before being taken by ambulance to the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

The family, who are from the Surrey area, were holidaying in the Newquay area when the incident happened.

 

22 August

Water users around the UK are being warned to be aware of changeable weather and the warnings of lifeguards after six people died in rough seas over the weekend.

Three men, two women and a six-year-old boy were killed in Cornwall, Essex, Dorset, Jersey and Aberdeen.

The Met Office had issued a yellow ‘be aware’ warning on 19 August. Gusts of up to 60mph were forecast for exposed coastlines in the south and west.

The strong winds and large waves also coincided with a period of spring tides over the weekend.

The UK Coastguard urged everyone to be careful around surging waves.

“Stay away from areas where surging waves could sweep you off your feet, or hit rocks and cause a huge amount of spray,” it advised.

“Be careful of tides; it’s easy to become cut off and strong wind conditions will mean that the sea will reach higher levels than expected. Heed warnings from lifeguards,” it added.

James Instance for the UK Coastguard issued this warning.

“What should be an enjoyable experience could so easily take a traumatic turn, so please do listen to warnings and stay at a safe distance from the water,” he stressed.

The first casualty of the weekend happened on 19 August at Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall.

Rudy and Lisinda Bruynius and their three children were knocked off rocks and washed into the sea.

The couple’s two sons managed to scramble back on to rocks. RNLI lifeguards rescued Mrs Bruynius using their jetski.

Her husband and their two-year-old daughter was rescued by the Newquay lifeboat. Mr Bruyunius later died in hospital.

On 20 August, a windsurfer in his 60s died after getting into difficulties off West Mercia, Essex.

Dan Baker, who was described by friends as an experienced windsurfer, was airlifted to hospital at just after midday but later died.

Just hours later, a man got into difficulty while swimming outside the safe swim area at Sandbanks beach in Poole, Dorset.

He was rescued from the water by lifeguards, who performed CPR. The crew of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and paramedics also attended but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Later on Saturday afternoon, two brothers were paddling in the sea off Aberdeen when they were swept out.

Their mother, 37-year-old Julie Walker, along with others, tried to rescue the children. All of them needed rescuing. Both Walker and her six-year-old son, Lucas died.

Walker’s 13-year-old son, Samuel is recovering in hospital. A man and a woman also received medical treatment.

On Saturday evening, a female swimmer was recovered from rough seas off Jersey. Joy Godfray, 31, later died in hospital.

She had been swimming near Green Island beach with a male companion, who was rescued by a member of the public.