A Southbourne beach hut owner, who claimed to have called 999, said he saw a woman having a medical emergency in the water while with her son before she was pulled from the sea
A mum tragically died on a beach in Devon after she suffered a horror medical emergency in front of her son.
Police have confirmed that the woman died on Southbourne beach after a suffering a medical episode while in the sea with her son. Police, paramedics and the coastguard rushed to the promenade between Fisherman’s Walk and Portman Ravine on Monday afternoon as witnesses saw emergency services perform CPR on the woman.
Police officers temporarily blocked access across the promenade while the emergency services dealt with the incident, reports Bournemouth Echo. A beach hut owner, who claimed to have called 999, said he saw a woman having a medical emergency in the water while with her son. She was then recovered from the sea by members of the public, she said.
Another beach hut owner said she didn’t see what happened but “heard all the commotion” as emergency services arrived. She added: “They were doing CPR for ages and ages, for an awfully long time.”
A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “At 2.21 pm on Monday 22 June 2026, Dorset Police was called to assist with a medical emergency at Southbourne promenade to clear an area to enable emergency services to attend safely.
“Sadly, a short time later a woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her next of kin is aware and the coroner has been notified. The death is not being treated as suspicious.”
Many people gathered on the beach as the incident unfolded and a helicopter landed at the scene. The Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance took off at around 4.30 pm.
Around two ambulances, a police car, a police van, a handful of coastguard officers, and around three council staff were also spotted at the scene.
A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: “We were called at 14:17 hrs on Monday 22 June to an incident near Boscombe.
“We sent two double-crewed land ambulances, an air ambulance, a rapid response vehicle and an operations officer to the scene.”
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