A dad drowned when he went out on his new paddle board for the first time with his wife and children despite not being able to swim, an inquest heard today. Julian Luffman had bought two boards a month earlier despite suffering from arthritis, which affected his mobility meaning he could not swim 'at all', his wife told the court.
On the tragic day last year, the Luffmans went out on the paddle boards with their son and daughter. Neither Mrs Luffman nor her 51 year old husband wore a lifejacket, with Mr Luffman only wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
Olesya Luffman, who was on a windsurfer and wearing a wetsuit, told the court she shouted for her husband to come back as he strayed passed her, half a mile out from the shore of Lepe Beach in Hampshire's New Forest. But as the father of two turned around, his inflatable paddle board wobbled and he fell feet first into the sea with his head going under the water.
Mr Luffman, of Southampton, then attempted to grab the board to climb back onto it, but it flipped over and one of its three fins smacked him on the head. The coroner heard Mrs Luffman was screaming, asking him if he was okay and he said 'no, not really' as he grabbed onto a fin before his arms went 'floppy' and he floated back into the water, staring blankly up at the sky.
Today she told Winchester Coroner's Court: "I was screaming and screaming and screaming. I was trying to put him on my board because it was wider than his paddle board. I nearly died as well. He was very, very blue around the lips.
"He was holding me, but I knew that he was dead already. I don't know how it's possible that he died in hospital. He had no fear of anything, he was a very strong gentleman."
The crews of two nearby boats went to help after hearing her screaming 'help me, my husband, he's died', but witnesses told the coroner Mr Luffman was unresponsive by the time they got to him. He was then flown by helicopter to Southampton General Hospital, Hants, after being in the water for 45 minutes where he was pronounced dead on the afternoon of August 28 last year.
The court heard Mrs Luffman, who attended the hearing with a friend, met her husband who she described as a 'gentleman' in Spain in 2007 before they relocated to the UK in 2012. Mrs Luffman, from Saratov, Russia, told the hearing he was suffering from spondylitis, a form of arthritis, which made his neck and shoulders hurt and it consequently affected his driving and work as a builder.
Despite this, her husband - who has been described as 'always up for an adventure' - was not scared of water and had been researching paddle boards online and on Facebook for weeks. In fact, the day before, she had to dissuade him from trying his new toy out on Southsea beach in Portsmouth, Hants, as the water was too rough, the coroner was told.
She added: "He could not swim at all. He wanted to try using the paddle board at Southsea. But I said 'no, you're going to die'." When asked by the coroner why her husband did not wear a lifejacket, she said: "He didn't even think about wearing a lifejacket. I swim like a fish in the water so didn't even think about it."
Hampshire Area Coroner Jason Pegg concluded: "Having paddled out to his wife, and it seems to me he was able to do that, he started to turn the paddle board around and it was probably the first time he ever tried to do so.He fell off and his head was submerged in water.
"He came straight back up, bobbed back up to the surface. He grabbed his paddle board, it flipped over and he was struck by one of the fins which are on the rear of the board. Following that, he managed to hang onto the fin but there came a time when Mrs Luffman graphically described that he literally, gently let go, looked up into the sky and drifted into the water.
"Mrs Luffman also graphically described that her husband's lips were blue. It seems that when he slipped away on his paddle board, he had passed away.
"She did what she could to try to help her husband, grabbing onto his T-shirt and shouting out for help to other boat users. Having arrived in hospital, he had sea water in his lungs. The formal time of death was given in the hospital but I find as fact he died in the sea in the moments before slipping off his own board, letting go of the fin."
Coroner Pegg recorded a narrative conclusion, with the cause of death as cardiac arrest in the sea brought on by the immersion in water. A fundraiser set up in Mr Luffman's name to help support his family raised over £5,000.
