Inquest hears Dorset coasteering victim was hit by 'massive wave'
49-year-old Iain Farrell died at Hedbury Quarry near Swanage
An inquest into the death of a man who was taking part in a coasteering activity in Dorset has heard he was swept into the sea by a 'massive wave'.
A fellow participant told the hearing that 49-year-old Iain Farrell was pulled back into the sea after he had been helped by a guide when struggling in the water.
The incident happened at Hedbury Quarry, near Swanage, in May 2019.
He was pulled unconscious from the sea and a number of other people had to be recovered from the water by the Coastguard and RNLI during the incident.
Sophie Dunford told the Bournemouth hearing how she was part of the same group as Mr Farrell and said that he raised that he was not a good swimmer during a safety briefing with the guide Charles Ridley:
"Iain made a joke about him being good at bobbing around and Charles made a joke about thinking his name was Iain and not Bob.
"Charles advised Iain, if he struggled, to swim on his back rather than his front because he might find it easier."
Ms Dunford said that she was the second to make the 1 metre jump from the ledge into the water and the group formed a "safety raft" where each held the buoyancy aid straps of the person next to them to create a "circle of love", as instructed by Mr Ridley.
She said: "Iain was falling behind the rest of us, I asked if he was OK, he said that he was OK and to keep swimming.
"It was difficult to swim in that water, it wasn't long before Iain started to struggle.
"The waves were really large, I don't know if it was the current but it was extremely tough."
Ms Dunford said Mr Ridley swam straight to Iain and threw a throw-rope to assist him back to the ledge and added:
"I believe Charles was pulling Iain along, Iain was on his back. I saw Charles get Iain out of the water, they were both stood on the ledge, a massive wave basically knocked them flying off their feet.
"Iain went into the water, Charles was still on the ledge."
She said that Mr Ridley then threw the throw-rope more than one time to Mr Farrell and added:
"The next thing I know Charles was diving into the water and pulling Iain out of the water and Iain was limp."
She said that Mr Ridley started performing CPR on Mr Farrell and told the group to stay in the water.
Ms Dunford said they alerted a group of climbers who were able to contact the emergency services.
She added that the sea conditions worsened with the waves crashing over their heads as they 'drifted further and further out'.
Pathologist Dr Juliane Stolte told the inquest that a post mortem examination found that Mr Farrell's lungs were "very heavy" weighing approximately three times the normal amount.
She said that this was caused by the intake of water and gave a cause of death as drowning.
Dr Stolte added that Mr Farrell's heart appeared normal and ruled out a heart attack.
Coroner Brendan Allen said that Mr Farrell had a pint of beer before the coasteering activity which Dr Stolte said was consistent with a low level of alcohol found in his system.
The inquest heard that Mr Farrell suffered shortness of breath at the time of the incident which Dr Stolte said was 'more likely' to have been caused by the water intake rather than a cardiac event.
The inquest continues.