A KITE surfer was rescued at Widemouth on the same day tragedy struck the North Cornish coast at Newquay.

RNLI lifeguards assisted the local kite surfer after he crashed his kite at Camel Rock, to the north side of the beach at Widemouth, on Friday, August 19.

On this day, at South Fistral Beach, Newquay, at around 5.20pm, three of a family of five were washed out to sea by a large wave.

A man, named by police as Rudy Bruynius, from the Surrey area, died in hospital on the Friday evening. Mr Bruynius’ daughter, two-year-old Mckayla Bruynius, who was initially taken to Derriford Hospital before being transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital, sadly died last Tuesday night, August 23.

Around an hour prior to the Newquay incident, around 4.25pm on August 19 at Widemouth, RNLI lifeguards watched kite surfer Steve Godley crash into rocks and get into difficulty at Camel Rock, to the north side of the beach.

Strong southerly winds and a big swell had been blowing Mr Godley towards the rock. Realising this, he let his kite down. He struggled to get the kite up again and away from the rock.

The inshore rescue boat was launched with RNLI lifeguard James Kivell and senior RNLI lifeguard Richie Heard. They returned Mr Godley safely to the beach.

Mr Heard, who had been working with Widemouth lifeguards on that day, told the Post: “The surf was starting to get very big that afternoon — the same day they had the tragic incident in Newquay.”

Mr Godley is a friend of the lifeguards, and a regular to the beach. Mr Heard said Mr Godley went in the water when conditions were ‘average’, but added: “An hour later it was pretty formidable. He crashed his kite in quite a nasty spot, right under where the surf was trying to break.

“We watched for about a minute [to see if he was in difficulty]. At that point we put the boat in the water as fast as possible.

“The risk was he would get washed through the reef with the surf. We had to charge out through some fairly big surf.”

Because of Mr Godley’s position, Mr Heard said it had been an ‘awkward pick-up’, but added the whole incident from start to finish probably took around three minutes.

Mr Heard also recounted his experience last week at Black Rock, where he said on Tuesday, August 23, numbers peaked at around 2,000 people on the beach.

One incident at low tide he described as a ‘bit of a mass rescue’, with around five people rescued by lifeguards.

He added that crowds, sunshine and a big spring low tide had made it a bit of a difficult day for him and fellow lifeguard Abby French.

He advised: “Be extra vigilant when on the beach this time of year. If you are not familiar with the beach just have a chat with the lifeguards before you go in the water. Please look for the red and yellow flags.”