Nurse helps save drowning man

A Shropshire nurse today told of the dramatic moment when she and her daughter helped save the life of a drowning man while on holiday in Greece.

Karen Beckett, who works at the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, was on a family holiday in Hanioti when the drama unfolded.

She had gone with her parents, Ann and Frank Ford, her husband Bill, and their daughters Rachael, aged 22, Jessica, 13, and 10-year-old Chloe.

They were three days into their sunshine break when the 49-year-old spotted a man getting into difficulty not far from the beach.

Mrs Beckett, of The Dell, Rodington, Telford, said: "The shallow waters near the beach only stretched about 10ft out and after that the shelf dropped away and it was very deep.

"I had gone for a dip with Rachael and Chloe when I saw this man who had waded out to the edge of the shelf with a woman I later found out was his girlfriend.

"He looked to be in difficulty but was smiling so initially I didn't think there was anything wrong but Rachael heard the man's girlfriend say to him 'are you drowning?'

"He said 'yes' and so Rachael told me.

"Chloe got out of the water to seek help and Rachael and I swam over to him and we each grabbed hold of one of his arms, just as he was going under."

Two men on the beach, one from Bromsgrove and the other from London, helped bring him ashore.

Karen said the rescued man, Gaston Houngue, was an African student at university in Germany. He had been on holiday with his Greek girlfriend who was partially disabled and so had been unable to help him when he got into difficulty.