Dog-walker, 68, cut off by Carmarthenshire tide is named
- 31 March 2014
- From the section South West Wales
A 68-year-old woman who died after being cut off by the tide as she walked dogs with her daughter on a Carmarthenshire beach, has been named.
Susan Wendy Hackett, from the Cynwyl Elfed area of Carmarthenshire, died after being airlifted from the water on Sunday afternoon.
She had been walking eight dogs with her daughter, 40, at Cefn Sidan when they became stranded.
Her daughter has been discharged from hospital.
According to the coastguard, the tide in the Loughor estuary, which leads out into Carmarthen Bay, is dangerous and comes in "very quickly".
Dyfed-Powys Police said three of the dogs were safe but five were unaccounted for.
The emergency services were alerted by a member of the public who was walking along the beach when they spotted the women in trouble.
Two RNLI inshore lifeboats from Burry Port were called to the southern end of Cefn Sidan beach, along with the RAF helicopter from Chivenor in Devon.
A spokesman for the RNLI said when the rescue team arrived at the scene, one of the dogs was seen in difficulty in the water.
"Within minutes, approximately 200 yards on from the sighting of the pet dog, the first casualty was spotted in danger in the water," he said.
"With the casualty struggling to remain afloat, having been in the water for nearly an hour, one of the lifeboat crew members entered the water to give urgent assistance by keeping the casualty afloat before aiding them aboard the lifeboat."
He said that the woman was pulled from the water and given first aid as the search for the other woman continued.
A few minutes later Ms Hackett was found by the lifeboat crew and was winched aboard the rescue helicopter.
Paul Stewart, from Burry Port Lifeboat, said crews were on the scene within five minutes of being called out.
"When the casualty (daughter) was back on land she did confirm she had been in the water for an hour. When we launched we were unaware of that."
Burry Port Lifeboat operations manager Roger Bowen said parts of the beach can be "treacherous" with signs in car parks and the nearby Pembrey Country Park warning visitors to watch for the changing tide and the possibility of being cut off on a sand bank on the beach.
He said the incident happened at an area known as The Nose, a spit of land on the easterly part of huge Cefn Sidan beach which is famous for its shifting sands revealing old shipwrecks and other finds.
Swansea coastguard watch officer Marc Lancey said: "At the moment we've got spring tides, which means we have the highest of the high tides and the lowest of the low tides.
"When we have a spring tide, the rate the tide comes in increases and so does the volume of water. The water certainly comes in faster during a spring tide."