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Mawgan Porth drowning inquests: Son 'forced to abandon drowned dad' Mawgan Porth drowning inquests: Father died trying to save sons
(34 minutes later)
The son of a surgeon was forced to abandon his father's body to the waves in a surfing tragedy, an inquest heard. A family surfing holiday turned to tragedy within minutes and claimed the lives of three people including a renowned surgeon, an inquest heard.
Knee surgeon Stuart Calder drowned while attempting to save his sons Hugo and Milo and two other teenagers in severe sea conditions. Stuart Calder, 52, was on a break with his wife Clare, two of their four children and other relatives at their holiday home near Newquay, Cornwall.
Rachel Dunn, 42, and her fiancé Kevin Reynolds, 44, also died at Mawgan Porth in Cornwall last October. Mr Calder drowned while attempting to save his sons Hugo and Milo and two other teenagers in severe conditions.
Hugo Calder described having to let his father's body go and swim back to the shore at the inquest in Truro. Rachel Dunn, 42, and her fiancé Kevin Reynolds, 44, also died.
All four teenage boys aged 18, 15 and 16 survived. In a written statement Hugo Calder described how the tragedy unfolded on October 26 at Mawgan Porth, saying when he entered the water, he was not aware of any warning signs.
The inquest at Truro City Hall heard Hugo Calder and his brother Milo had been surfing when they spotted two swimmers, Gethin and William Robson in trouble and helped them on to their surfboards. "I surfed with my brother Milo for about 20 minutes with nothing out of the ordinary happening," the experienced surfer, who is on a gap year before university, said.
All four were on family holidays at the time. "I became aware of a girl aged about 15 asking me to help her because she had difficulty getting back to the shore. I was able to hold her and I got her to the shallow water and she walked to the shore."
Stuart Calder, a married father of four from Leeds, swam out to try to help them but William Robson told the inquest by the time he reached them he appeared "grey, panicked and exhausted". The teenager said he then saw his brother helping Gethin Robson and his sibling was waving at him to help William Robson, who was also in trouble.
They had been battling against a strong rip current and were being "hit by waves in all directions". "There were waves crashing in on this boy and he also seemed to be signalling to me. I moved towards him on my board and as I got near him I could hear him shouting for help," he said.
Hugo Calder said in a written statement he kept trying to hold his father 's body on the surfboard but had to give up and leave him to swim back to shore. "I managed to get to him without too much difficulty. He grabbed my board and we started to try and head towards the shore."
Kevin Reynolds and his "soul mate" Rachel Dunn from St Austell, had been having their last surf of the year when they also got into trouble. Mr Calder said that he then saw Kevin Reynolds struggling in the water and he too grabbed the surf board - making it even harder to paddle to the shore.
At one point, Hugo and Stuart Calder, William Robson and Kevin Reynolds were all clinging to one board. "I then saw my dad and he was trying to swim towards me. He was fighting the waves and looked panicky and was shouting for help," he said.
William Robson said a large wave hit and when he surfaced both Rachel Dunn and Stuart Calder were dead. "I left the two other people holding onto my board and swam towards him. I reached him and we both managed to get back to my board.
The teenagers all managed to swim to safety while the two bodies were brought in and people on the beach performed CPR until emergency services arrived. "There were now four of us holding onto the board. We tried to swim back to the shore but we were getting thrown around and hit by the waves and the board was sinking a bit.
Kevin Reynold's body was later winched from the sea by a search and rescue helicopter. "We caught up with Milo and I moved over to his board so there would be three on each. I looked back to see where my dad was and could see all three had fallen off.
"All of a sudden my board flew past with no one on it. I felt something terrible had happened.
"The next thing I remember was that my dad's lifeless body was near to me in the water. I tried to get hold of the body and get him onto Milo's board but he kept falling off.
"The current was too strong and the waves meant I couldn't keep hold of my dad. We had to leave him in order to get back to the shore."
The incident happened during October half term when there was no lifeguard cover.The incident happened during October half term when there was no lifeguard cover.
Some experienced surfers told the hearing that the sea current was too strong that day and the water should have been closed off.Some experienced surfers told the hearing that the sea current was too strong that day and the water should have been closed off.
The inquest continues. Cornwall Coroner Emma Carlyon recorded separate conclusions of accidental death and said having heard evidence from the Coastguard that rip currents are common she would not make a report to prevent future deaths.