Police have named two of the three people who were killed in Sunday’s surfing tragedy off a beach near Newquay in Cornwall.
They were Rachel Dunn, 42, and Kevin Reynolds, 44, both from St Austell.
The third victim, believed to be the 52-year-old knee surgeon Stuart Calder, will not be named by police following a request from his family. His bravery has already been widely praised after it was reported that he drowned after trying to rescue a group of teenage boys who later made it to shore unharmed.
All three adults were pulled unconscious from the water off the unpatrolled Mawgan Porth beach on Sunday.
The four teenage boys – two aged 18, one 16 and one 15 – were taken to hospital after the incident but were found to be “safe and well”.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) has released video footage of a lifeboat crew from Newquay searching for the surfers on Sunday. The surfers are not shown in the footage but it shows the rough conditions and towering waves in which they were caught.
Witnesses told the police how the tragedy unfolded at a public meeting on Tuesday in Mawgan Porth village hall.
There have been many tributes to Calder from his patients, friends and local politicians. Greg Mulholland, who represents Leeds North West for the Lib Dems, said Calder “died a hero trying to save others”. Jamie Hanley, prospective Labour party candidate for Pudsey, West Yorkshire, told the Yorkshire Post: “I had the privilege of getting to know Stuart as a first-rate knee surgeon.
“He was an exceptional doctor and a very nice man, who always demonstrated a very caring approach to those who required his medical expertise.”
A former patient, Stephen Wheatley, tweeted: “Shocked to hear of death of Stuart Calder. Reconstructed both my knees and was a credit to his profession.”
Calder’s mother Gillian told the Times: “My heart is broken, that’s all I can say.”
The RNLI has confirmed there will be a review of lifeguard cover at the beach.
