A young man who drowned on a first date could still be heard "shouting for help" from the shoreline as his date rushed to try and save him.
Haydn Griffiths' body was pulled from the water at Pier Head in Liverpool, four days after he went swimming on the hottest day of the year at New Brighton in Wirral, Merseyside,(July 19).
The 23-year-old had been attempting to swim out to the off-shore wind turbines with his companion at around 10.30pm when he got into difficulty and disappeared below the surface.
His family from Wigan, Greater Manchester, described him as a strong swimmer and believe a jellyfish sting he suffered earlier in the evening may have impacted his ability to float.
Now Haydn's sister has revealed how he bravely calmed his date down before instructing her to swim the three miles back to shore and find assistance.
Megan Griffiths, 29, told the Manchester Evening News : "It took her about 30 minutes to run up the beach to get help.
"The response was so, so fast. I fully believed we would find him somewhere."
After Haydn vanished, a huge search and rescue mission was launched - but was called off 18 hours later when he still wasn't found.
He was eventually discovered on July 23 after his body drifted towards the coastline of Liverpool city centre.
Megan, 29, said Haydn had recently done a refresher course on saving lives at sea and was knowledgeable in breathing techniques and how to react in dangerous situations.
The former Lowton High School student had also spent hundreds of hours on the water taking part in sailing competitions and working on superyachts and oil tankers across Europe.
"It has been difficult," Megan said.
"We spent so much time together as a family. We are really lucky for that.
"We have been on so many adventures sailing, climbing, snowboarding. He was such a spiritual person.
"His vibrational energy was too much for this earth.
"He was always running and jumping in the gym and when he was exercising, making you think 'how are you doing that?' He was just awesome."
His sisters Megan and Brogan - as well as dad Bryn and mum Diane - now want people to learn from the tragedy and be aware of the dangers of swimming in open waters.
Megan said: "We are now trying to get the message out there about what happened.
"If it can happen to Haydn, it can happen to anyone."
Brogan launched a GoFundMe page ahead of Haydn's funeral, held in Atherton this week, where people can donate towards charities close to the family’s hearts.
Among them are the RNLI at Hoylake and New Brighton and several wildlife charities.
But the family also have plans to improve water safety signage in the area and install a remembrance bench at Pennington Flash Lake in Leigh, in Haydn's memory.
