A grieving mother had to relive the moment when her husband and baby daughter were drowned by an 8ft wave on a Cornish beach.
At an inquest into their deaths, Lisinda Bruynius recalled her husband, Rudy’s battle to save their 2-year-old daughter, McKayla from the sea storm that dragged the three of them into the sea off South Fistral Beach, Newquay.
Lisinda and Rudy’s two young sons Damian, six, and Tyrone, ten, watched from the higher rocks as their family was swept away, struggling to save McKayla, who was still in her pram, reports the Guardian
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The family-of-five were holidaying in Newquay on August 19 of last year when the wave struck the rocks on which they were sitting.Mrs Bruynius recounted the fatal incident, saying:
We had been there about 30 minutes and the boys seemed happy. We were all having a nice time and had no concerns. Within five minutes the water had risen to about 6ft and started to splash us.I told the boys to go higher on the rocks. I recall saying, ‘This is not normal’. My two boys started to move further up the rocks we were on.Rudy, McKayla and I were in the process of moving up the rock when a large wave washed us off the rock. There had been no time to say anything to Rudy when a second large wave hit us and dragged us into the water.
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Bruynius continued:
We were both doing our best to keep afloat. I could hear Rudy screaming for help. In no time I had drifted 15 metres from rocks. There was no way anyone could get to the three of us.I glanced across and could no longer see McKayla in Rudy’s arms. Rudy appeared to be floating in an upright position with his head back. I swam over to Rudy but he was unconscious.
Rudy and McKayla were both rescued from the water after about 10 minutes and administered CPR by the RNLI and ambulance services in attendance.
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Although Mr Bruynius was airlifted to nearby Treliske Hospital, he was pronounce dead later that night. McKayla died four days later after being transferred for treatment at Bristol Children’s Hospital.In a statement read out at the inquest, Mrs Bruynius, who survived the horror with minor injuries, said the pain of her loss was ‘indescribable’.Detective Constable Jarrod Yewen, of Newquay CID, read out Mrs Bruynius’ statement as she was too upset to attend the inquest in person.
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He stated, ‘No one could have foreseen this. The weather conditions changed so quickly and the swell doubled in size.’Mrs Bruynius paid tribute to her ‘loving husband’ and ‘beautiful baby girl’. She went onto thank the the RNLI, Coastguard, lifeguards, police, air ambulance and ambulance crews who attended the scene.Rudy and McKayla were two of six people killed in tragedies on the coast. Since, a fundraising page, set up to support the Bruynius family, raised nearly £50,000.