Man drowns trying to save his daughter
A family trip to the beach has come to a tragic end after an Adelaide father died trying to save his young daughter.
The 49-year-old took to the water at Adelaide’s Grange Beach after the tide began taking his daughter - who was on an inflatable tube - further out to sea.
Onlooker Michael Napper saw the situation unfold before racing out to help.
“The little daughter jumped off the tube into his arms in deep water and he was trying to save her,” Mr Napper told 7News.
Michael Napper (left) took action after seeing the younger man struggle to rescue his daughter. Image: 7News
“It was too deep. He was holding her out of the water and the water was above his head and when I looked around he was floating.”
The 70-year-old went out on the water with his boogie board to rescue the pair.
“I had to. She was crying and she was very upset,” he said.
“I got her on the board and she was holding the board. She was alright.
“By the time I got to (her dad) he was under water and the next thing he was floating.
“So I grabbed him by the trousers and turned him over and got him above the water and then I swam in.”
Two onlookers began performing CPR on the unconscious man until paramedics arrived.
He was treated for over an hour but paramedics were unable to revive him.
Though other onlookers and paramedics worked to save the man, he could not be revived. Image: 7News
The man’s passing comes as the second death by drowning this week, after a 71-year-old man died over the weekend after diving into treacherous waters to save two relatives near Victor Harbor, 80km south of Adelaide.
Surf Lifesavers are urging people to take extra care around the water.
“So far in six weeks we have seen four coastal drownings in South Australia,” Surf Life Saving SA spokesperson Daniel Willetts said.
“We urge people to please assist yourselves and help yourself before you go to the aid of others, otherwise you may find that you indeed yourself become the fatality.”
Image: 7News