A supermarket retailer will display safety advice on its stand-up paddleboarders after the death of a 24-year-old woman last summer. Emma Powell, who was described as a "beautiful young lady" died on the River Conwy estuary while trying out a new inflatable paddleboard that had been bought at Tesco.
Emma, from Llandudno, was an "adventurous" "free spirit", but at around 10pm on Thursday, July 14, she got into difficulties alongside two of her friends off Conwy Morfa.
An inquest into her death heard Emma died just hours after she and her cousin, Amber Powell, 21, had each bought a paddleboard from a Tesco store near Llandudno.
Read more: The frustrated cafe owner who spent £3,000 on a speed camera
Neither Emma or Amber were wearing life jackets. In choppy conditions, both crashed into the side of a jetty, but they seemed fine, NorthWalesLive reports. But soon after, they vanished and Emma became trapped underneath the water.
At the inquest, senior coroner John Gittins said Emma was the victim of an “incredibly tragic set of circumstances”. Praising the “admirable” efforts of rescuers, he said Emma appeared a “lovely young woman with a bright future”.
Expressing concern over the use of ankle leashes, and retailers’ responsibilities, he later issued a prevention of future deaths report to the UK Government and to Tesco, where Emma had bought her board. The supermarket chain has now said it will attach a British Canoeing safety sticker to all its stand-up paddleboards (SUP).
The sticker depicts a SUP infographic that shows the correct ways to wear a leash in different water conditions. It also has a QR code linked to British Canoeing’s Go Paddling website for further information.
British Canoeing said it was a “crucial step” in raising SUP safety awareness among the general public as the activity’s popularity continues to rise. Tesco has pledged to share information with other retailers and British Canoeing is now expecting other major supermarkets to follow suit with their safety messaging.
Ashley Metcalfe, chief executive of British Canoeing, said: “Provision of safety information and resources by retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers at the point of sale is key to raising awareness of safety among new and novice paddlers. Tragically, over the past couple of years there have been several fatalities involving new and novice paddlers.
"In light of this, we have been approached by several large retailers who were keen to use our safety guidance to inform their customers.” in October 2021, four paddleboarders died in a separate paddleboarding tragedy in Havefordwest.
In its letter to the coroner, Tesco said it “worked hard” to ensure the products it sells are safe. It said that “to learn that any of our customers have died whilst using one of our products is very upsetting”.
Read next:
