VIDEO: Tributes for swimming accident victim

Monday 22 August 2016

Friends and family have been paying tribute to the woman who died after being rescued in rough seas late on Saturday night.

Joy Godray died the day before her 33rd birthday after getting into difficulty on the Island's South East coast.

Her mum has since posted on Facebook: "The family are in shock and devastated at losing our Joy."

Others have said she will be "greatly missed" and that "what should have been a magic moment ended in pure tragedy."

The Coastguard, RNLI and Jersey Fire & Rescue were all called out to Green Island at 20:00 on Saturday night and arrived to find one swimmer, a man, had already been rescued by members of the public.

They told crews they couldn't reach the second swimmer who was drifting out eastwards.

(credit: Terry Arthur)

The Fire Service's Inshore Rescue Boat had to be launched at La Hocq because of the conditions and the search proved difficult because of the extremely rough seas. The missing woman was picked up by the RNLI's lifeboat between Green Island and La Hocq when one of the fire crew got on board to help treat her as they brought her back to St Helier where she was taken to hospital.

A police statement today read: "A female in her 30’s has died having been found by the coast guard in the sea of Green Island last night.

"Shortly before 21:00 the emergency services were notified that a man and a woman had entered the sea and, it would appear that, due to the stormy conditions they were then finding it difficult to return to the shore. The male party was helped to safety by passing members of the public. Attempts were also made to try and rescue the female, but it was the emergency services who located her and returned her to the shore. She was taken to the General Hospital where, despite attempts to revive her, she later died.

"Next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family and friends at this sad time."

Jonathan Lee, RNLI press officer said: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased following this tragedy.

"The 'Respect the Water' campaign is a nationwide campaign which aims to underline just how powerful and strong the seas can be in rough weather." 

Watch Commander Mark Walker said: "The current high tides combined with gale force winds have created very difficult conditions along the coast, always check the weather, tides and sea state before entering the water.

There's also been praise for the emergency services form  Jersey's Harbour Master, Captain Phillip Buckley: "I would like to highlight the courage and professionalism of all those involved in her rescue in the appalling conditions on our south coast on Saturday night.  This event is an all too tragic reminder of the perils of the seas around our coastline.  Jersey’s beautiful beaches mask a range of lurking hazards generated by one of the highest tidal ranges in Europe, which are made more dangerous in poor weather.  I urge everyone taking to the water for whatever reason to take the hazards and warnings seriously so that we avoid any further unnecessary loss of life.”

"For more safety information go to the RNLI website here."

(Picture credit: Jersey Fire & Rescue)