Menorca summertime tragedy

TRAGEDY struck the island of Menorca earlier this summer when a soon-to-be-married British woman drowned in the swimming pool of her family’s holiday home.

Emma Campbell, aged 29 from Winchfield, Hampshire, was discovered in the pool by her fiancé George Mudford on July 3 after he returned to the house following a morning run.

A Coroners’ inquest into the young woman’s death was read a statement issued by Mr. Mudford.

He said: “When I came home from a run I found my fiancée face down in the deep end of the pool. I jumped in and immediately pulled Emma to the surface and performed CPR to the best of my ability and screamed for help.”

Despite his efforts, and those of the paramedics that were called to the scene, Miss Campbell was unable to be resuscitated.

The heartbreaking event was made all the more tragic due to the fact that that same day, the couple had been due to visit the church where they were to be married.

During the hearing, Miss Campbell’s mother said: “They were looking at venues to be married and they had got an appointment, they had decided to look at the church at that time.

“She was well able to swim, she knew the pool, she had been there from a very early age, and she was a good swimmer.”

A heart defect that Miss Campbell had had since birth helped the North Hampshire Coroner Andrew Bradley reach his decision of ‘accidental death’ consistent with drowning.

He said: “I have no doubt it’s an accidental death, had she not been under water, the nature of this event would not have happened, it’s that helpless situation.”