THE tragic death of a fearless father who drowned while saving the life of his young son has been ruled as an accident, a coroner inquest has concluded.
David Cole and his young boy were swept out to sea by a riptide during a day out at the beach in West Mersea on June 11.
The 30-year-old dad-of-two got into trouble in the water while paddling with his three-year-old son and saved his life by holding his head above the water.
Tragically, Mr Cole drowned as a result of his heroic actions.
An inquest was opened at Essex Coroner’s Court at the beginning of the month, which heard Mr Cole was airlifted to Colchester Hospital following the incident.
A paddleboarder and two lifeguards were the first to try and help the dad and son before the RNLI crew at Southend arrived just minutes later.
Area coroner Michelle Brown said “resuscitation was stopped after discussion with the hospital team and he sadly passed away”.
“Police have confirmed they are satisfied there was no third party involvement”, she added.
Ms Brown said a post-mortem examination determined Mr Cole’s provisional cause of death as drowning.
The inquest into the tragedy concluded yesterday, September 26, with the court ruling the death as an accident.
A fundraiser was launched in aid of the RNLI crew at West Mersea Lifeboat Station, who pulled Mr Cole from the water, by the heroic dad’s partner Katie Macdonald.
Ms Macdonald, 27, was on the beach with the couple’s other son, aged one, at the time.
She previously told the Gazette how she felt “helpless” during the heartbreaking incident.
She said: "One moment David was right in front of me with the water only around his waist.
"But then in a flash a riptide swept him out to sea, and he was in a lot of trouble.”
Paying tribute to her partner, Ms Macdonald said he was “the best dad ever” who “only wanted to have fun with the kids”.
“He's a hero”, she added. “A hero in the sense he put his son before himself and saved his son’s life."
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