The family of a swimmer who went missing in the River Mersey say they believe he is "out there and fighting".
Haydn Griffiths was last seen while at Derby Pool, in New Brighton, at around 10.30pm on Tuesday when he went swimming with a friend. The 23-year-old was attempting to swim out to the wind turbines when he disappeared in the water and didn't resurface.
A massive search was launched by the Coastguard and lifeboat volunteers but was called off at around 5pm on Wednesday, July 20.
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The family of the 23-year-old have travelled to Merseyside to continue the search for Haydn, with his older sister, Megan Griffiths, telling The ECHO how strong her brother is and how she thinks he is “out there and fighting”.
Megan said: “Maybe he washed onto a remote beach and is too injured to find help? Maybe he’s still out at sea, hanging onto a buoy.
“Haydn is so strong. The RNLI coastguard have been incredible and the search party have been amazing.
“This is the most important search in the whole wide world as my incredible baby brother is out there. He is the strongest human I've ever met and I know he's out there fighting.”
Megan works away and has flown to Heathrow and travelled to Merseyside just to look for her brother and search the beaches.
She said: “Time is precious and I hope we can find him asap. Anyone, everyone, please if you are anywhere near Wallasey or the surrounding areas please help with the search.
“If local sailing clubs can help, please help. I’ve felt completely helpless.”
An extensive search was carried out for more than 12 hours by the Coastguard and RNLI before it was suspended. This morning the search continued, with friends and family of Haydn asking people to join them. Volunteers are being urged not to enter the water to look for Haydn, but to help search the coastline.
Speaking about when her brother was last seen, Megan said: “Haydn’s been missing since Tuesday evening and we need to find him! I understand that he may have tried to swim out the the offshore wind turbines as the tide changed and he couldn't swim back to shore.
“Anyone who knows Haydn knows how incredibly strong he is and despite the amount of hours he's been missing, he'll be fighting somewhere.”
Merseyside Police are continuing to carry out enquiries into Haydn’s disappearance. In a statement, officers issued a description of the 23-year-old and said he was last seen wearing dark coloured swimming shorts.
Haydn is white, 6ft 1in tall, of athletic build with short blonde hair and blue eyes.
The force added: "We are continuing to carry out enquiries following reports that a 23-year-old man, Haydn Griffiths, has gone missing while swimming in the River Mersey off New Brighton at around 10.30pm on Tuesday.
“Haydn was last seen in the water at the Derby Pool, New Brighton, wearing dark coloured swimming shorts attempting to swim towards the windmills in the area. An extensive search of the river was carried out last night and today by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency but Haydn was not found and the search has now been suspended.
"Haydn is white, 6ft 1in tall, of athletic build with short blonde hair and blue eyes. Enquiries remain ongoing to find Haydn."
If you see Haydn or have any information, please contact us via @MerPolCC on Twitter, 'Merseyside Police Contact Centre' on Facebook, 101, quoting reference 22000518807.
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