Family completes 'painful' walk after sea tragedy

A team of family, friends and volunteers took part in a charity walk in memory of Matt McDavid

The family of a swimmer who died off the Yorkshire coast have raised thousands of pounds for rescuers through a sponsored walk, which ended at the spot were he got into difficulty.

Father-of-two Matt McDavid, 42, from Leeds, dropped out of sight from the shore while swimming in Thornwick Bay, near Flamborough, on 30 July.

His body was found three weeks later, police said.

On Saturday, Mr McDavid's family joined their friends and other supporters on a 20-mile (32km) walk from Scarborough Lifeboat Station to Thornwick Bay. So far, they have collected about £4,000.

Michelle Sigsworth lost sight of her partner Matt McDavid after he went swimming off the Yorkshire coast

Maria Balmforth, the sister of Mr McDavid's partner Michelle Sigsworth, said RNLI and HM Coastguard teams were "absolutely amazing" and will share the fundraising money.

She said the walk had been "tough and painful", but added the family had wanted to raise money to show their appreciation to the people who tried to save him.

Ms Balmforth added: "These are all volunteers who have families themselves, and they're going into that water… putting their own lives at risk, and they don't get paid for doing that."

Mr McDavid's body was found at Tunstall beach in Holderness, East Yorkshire, on 21 August.

Ms Sigsworth said her partner was familiar with the coast, was an experienced swimmer and would not have entered the water if he had deemed it unsafe.

The circumstances around Mr McDavid's death will be subject to a coroner's inquest, but Ms Balmforth said the family wished to remind others about the dangers of sea swimming.

"We don't want another family to go down there...and go through what we are," she said.

"Next time, it might be a child."

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