'Hold my hand' – the final words of Shropshire dad who drowned saving daughter from sea off Italy
“Hold my hand,” were the last words of a Shropshire father as he desperately tried to rescue his daughter as they got into difficulty in the sea while on holiday.
Businessman Simon Pearson, 47, tragically drowned after going for a swim at Lido Bosco Verdi, in Ostuni, in the Puglia region of southern Italy on July 18 with members of his family.
Italian beach worker Martino Maggi, 49, also died after going to their aid.
Another beach worker managed to bring Mr Pearson’s 10-year-old daughter Lily safely ashore.
Mr Pearson, the managing director of building materials firm Jesmonite, of Bishop’s Castle, was at the beach with his wife Emma Jane, 43, their son Monty, aged six, the businessman’s mother Yolanda and Emma Jane’s father Anthony McGregor, known as Tony. But shortly after their arrival at about 9.30am tragedy struck.
Mr Pearson, his daughter Lily and his father-in-law got into difficulty in the sea off the coast of Italy where the family were holidaying.
A statement by Mrs Pearson, of Old Church Stoke, near Churchstoke, on the Shropshire border, was read aloud at an inquest held in Shrewsbury.
She stated: “Lily told me that the whole time the only word Simon uttered was ‘hold my hand’. She said ‘he was working so hard to try and save me’ but that her dad lost his strength.
“The doctors advised us that Simon died from drowning. His lungs were so full of water. At no point did he have a heart attack. The death was registered that he died by drowning.”
She added that the current was stronger than it appeared.
Mrs Pearson, a director of Feathercast Ltd based in Bishop’s Castle, paid tribute to her husband as “dearly loved”.
He said: “It was clearly an accident. This was a double tragedy and our condolences go to both the Pearson family and Martino’s family in Italy.”
Mr Pearson’s firm Jesmonite was winner of the Shropshire Star’s best small business award in 2014. The company makes mouldings to look like stone, marble, china or other materials and in recent years produced nearly 6,000 pieces of decorative artwork for P&O’s new £473 million cruise ship Britannia.
Following the deaths Giuseppe Chiarelli of Brindisi Port Authority said the stretch of coastline “unfortunately isn’t new to this kind of tragedy”. As recently as July 14 four lifeguards rescued three Russian tourists and an Italian who were unable to return to the shore of a nearby beach.
Emma Pearson's statement prepared for the inquest
Here is a section of the statement Mrs Pearson prepared for the inquest:
“Simon and I were on holiday at the Lido Bosco Verdi resort, in Ostuni, Italy with our children Lily, aged 10, and Monty, aged six. Also accompanying us was Simon’s mother Yolanda Pearson and my father Anthony McGregor, known as Tony.
“The Lido Bosco Verdi is a resort that we know very well and have been visiting it for 15 years. The 15 years that we have visited we were never aware of a dangerous tide and the water also seemed safe.
“My father has been a lifelong member of the Lifeboat Institute. He told me that the red flags meant that swimmers should exercise caution.
“The weekend previously there had been a storm affecting the area. On July 17 we were advised by the staff not to go in the water and no such warning was given on July 18.
“At 9.30am we went for a swim. The red flags were flying. My father is a very strong and competent swimmer. I asked him not to go out too far. The water was calm and gentle. Simon and Lily went into the water. My attention was drawn from Simon and Lily to my father. He was swimming and stopping which was odd. I wondered why he was not coming back to shore. He told me after that he was trying to get my attention to warn others not to come into the water because of the strong current.
“I was shouting to him to get back. I heard him shout 'Emma help me'. I went to a lifeboat station and I was shouting for help. A man entered the water and started going towards Simon and Lily. I tried to get the boat out, but I couldn’t manage it. A second and a third man came I was still shouting for help. I saw Simon holding Lily above the water. The other man was struggling.
“I looked out – the first man seemed exhausted. A lady came and told me she had made a phone call. By this time my father was still out at sea holding on to a buoy.
“Ibrahim and Martino were in the sea and went to help. Ibrahim managed to reach Lily and got her back to shore. He told me afterwards he had to make a choice between Simon and Lily and he couldn’t get both back.
“By this time a number of people formed a human chain to get to Simon. I looked and saw my father still holding on to the buoy.
“I realised that Simon was dead. Ibrahim managed to swim back to shore. He was unable to reach Simon. I realised that Martino had not returned. I could see him floating I knew he was dead. I saw a pretty young girl try to go in the water. I tried to shout to her not to go in. I shouted warnings to the others that my husband was dead.
“As I walked past Martino I touched his chest and told him I was sorry and I know he tried to help Simon.
"Afterwards Lily told me that the whole time the only word Simon uttered was 'hold my hand'. She said, 'he was working so hard to try and save me' but that her dad lost his strength.
"Simon was a dearly loved husband, son and father and we will never forget how hard Simon worked to save his daughter."
