As the summer holidays begin in earnest, thousands of us will head to the British seaside in the coming weeks for days out in the sun with family and friends.
However, one grieving mother is pushing for children to be more educated on the dangers of the sea after she tragically lost her teenage son, Ryan, to a deadly rip current three years ago.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ren Baldry, 46, from Chichester, West Sussex, says it had been a carefree late summer afternoon when she dropped off Ryan, 19, at nearby West Wittering Beach on September 4, 2023, at around 6pm to meet some friends.
The crowds were thinning out, she says, with many visitors packing up for the day and heading home.
After hanging out on the sands, Ryan decided to ‘go for a last-minute dip’ in the water with a friend. The spur of the moment decision would cost him his life.
Ren Baldry from Chichester pictured with her son Ryan, 19, who died in September 2023 after getting caught in a rip current off West Wittering Beach in West Sussex
Both young men soon found themselves caught in a rip current, a powerful stream running out to sea which can drag people and debris from the shallows to deeper water.
Ryan’s friend managed to float to shore and watched in horror as Ryan struggled to get back to the beach. His friend made a buoyancy aid with his shorts to try and help Ryan but his efforts were in vain.
‘I just think that Ryan went into panic and was really fighting to get in, and you can’t do that with a rip current,’ Ren says.
The friend called for help and Ren describes the ‘terror’ she felt when the police arrived at her home to tell her son was missing at sea.
After an extensive search, his body was recovered four days later by fishermen off Hayling Island in Hampshire.
Ryan was one of four brothers and Ren says the tragedy of losing her son has ‘devastated our family’.
‘It is a living hell,’ she says, revealing she has ‘suffered a lot with terrible nightmares’ and has tried to work through her grief with therapy.
The West Sussex beach where Ryan lost his life to a rip current; his body was recovered four days later by fishermen in Hampshire
Ren describes Ryan as ‘such a good, kind, sweet person’, adding, ‘He just got in the sea for a second, that’s all he did.’
Ryan had swimming lessons when he was younger but Ren feels he ‘didn’t really know much of anything’ in terms of sea safety.
‘I think Ryan just had a lack of knowledge, and perhaps if they’d have had some sea safety in school,’ Ren says.
So far this year more than a dozen people have drowned in water-related incidents in the UK.
In England, local authority-run schools are required to provide swimming lessons for primary school pupils, but Ren thinks more needs to be done to teach children about beach safety.
‘If you live near the sea, I think there’s maybe a bit more education,’ the bereaved mother says, but suggests many inland schools simply don’t focus enough on coastal safety.
Now, Ren and her sister, Katherine Reed, hope to spread awareness through visiting schools and sharing what happened to Ryan. The pair have set up an Instagram account to promote their sea safety campaign, @ryan_baldry_19.
And as parents across the country prepare to let their teens go to the beach alone with friends this summer, Ren says social media can be a positive way to educate youngsters of the coast’s dangers.
Now, bereaved mother Ren (left) is spreading awareness of sea safety and her son’s story with her sister, Katherine Reed (right), pictured with Ryan (centre)
A rip current – defined as a powerful current running out to sea which can drag people and debris from the shallows to deeper water – pictured on a beach
She recommends RNLI’s Instagram page, @rnli, for informative videos and encourages parents to ‘keep sharing’ the clips and watch them together with their children.
The HM Coastguard also has advice on its website on how to keep safe at sea, and urges people to follow Float To Live if they end up in difficulty in the water.
Explaining things like cold water shock and the importance of wearing visible swimwear and sharing locations with an adult are other vital factors to discuss with youngsters, says Ren.
Cold water shock is defined by the Met Office as ‘a sudden and involuntary response’ that can occur when you enter water 15C and below.
Deputy Chief Coastguard John Craig tells the Daily Mail: ‘Our thoughts are with Ren and others who’ve lost loved ones on the coast and at sea.’
He explains how ‘Rip currents can occur on any beach with breaking waves’ and says, ‘The most important advice is that people swim on a lifeguarded beach.’
The coastguard recommends to, ‘Look for warning signs or flags and watch for areas with a lack of waves, silty debris and churning or choppy waters, which might indicate a rip current.
‘Rip currents are most dangerous when people panic or try to overcome them by swimming directly towards the shore. Instead, raise your hand and call for help. Remain calm, conserve your energy, and follow Float to Live advice.
‘Tilt your head back, relax, control your breathing, and move your hands and legs to help you float. It’s OK if your legs sink and ears submerge; we all float differently.
‘If you can, move parallel to the shore until you’re free of the rip current. If you’re on shore and see someone in difficulty, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.’
