The Times - UK (2022-02-23)

the times | Wednesday February 23 2022 21

News

tion”. He said the Environment Agency
and Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs had described
flooding in 2020 as a “once-in-a-centu-
ry event”, adding: “But it’s just two years
later and we need to be preparing for

this as a normal event.”

There were more than 90 flood

warnings in place yesterday afternoon.

Figures from the Energy Networks

Association showed 12,000 homes were

without power yesterday morning.

A former professional rugby player

died after diving into the sea to save his

children, an inquest has been told.

David Fell was on holiday with his

wife and teenage son and daughter at

Reighton Gap beach, near Filey, North

Yorkshire, on July 22 last year when the

children got into difficulty.

Fell, 55, dived in to rescue them but

was caught in a rip tide, a strong, narrow

current that flows away from the beach

and can be very difficult to escape.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institu-

tion (RNLI) rescued him and tried to

resuscitate him but he suffered a fatal

cardiac arrest. His children were res-

cued but the daughter was treated in in-

tensive care and is still recovering from

her injuries, which included an abdom-

inal aortic rupture.

At the opening of the inquest yester-

day, Fell’s widow, Fiona, said that the

family would not have gone into the

water if there had been signs warning of

rip tides. Bourne Leisure, which owns

Haven Holidays, the company that

runs the holiday park, disputed the lack

of signs, saying there were several.

The inquest was told there were three

signs that warned people “water is un-

predictable” and explained what to do if

someone got into difficulty. However,

there were no signs warning specific-

ally about rip tides, no flag warning

system and no lifeguards.

Mrs Fell said: “I have had to face the

Ex-rugby player died

trying to save children

realisation that I lost my husband but

could have also lost my children. I can

say that there were definitely no warn-

ing signs, flags, lifebuoys or any life-

guards on duty on the beach that day.

“I am very diligent with regards to

looking for these things, as my son suf-

fers with epilepsy. If I’d known the

potential dangers of rip tides and cur-

rents, I would have never allowed them

to go into the sea. I feel adequate meas-

ures must be put in place immediately

in order to prevent another family from

grieving for ever.”

The inquest heard rescuers pulled

her son and daughter to safety using

paddleboards, and a man on the beach

used a drone to try to locate her hus-

band, before the RNLI crew arrived.

In a statement after Fell died, the

RNLI said the crew were on the scene

“very quickly”. Fell was transferred to

paramedics in Filey “at top speed by

boat” but pronounced dead that day.

Born in Wigan, Fell played rugby

league and rugby union for Lancashire

and was in the Salford team that won the

second-division championship in 1991.

The inquest continues.

James Callery

David Fell was

caught in a rip

current at a

holiday park

Elsewhere, a husband paid tribute to

his “perfect” wife after she was killed by

a falling tree in north London during

Storm Eunice. Juliana Da Silva Queiroz

Murilo, 37, died when the tree hit the car

being driven by her husband, Carlos, 39.

Barriers were holding at a taxi rank in York as the River Ouse

rose to 4.57 metres. The Boat Inn in Jackfield, Shropshire, was

swamped and the clean-up began in Tadcaster, north Yorkshire

ANDREW MCCAREN/LNP; CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES; DANNY LAWSON/PA