A brave passer-by who tried to save a mum and daughter who tragically drowned last week has spoken about how his father passed away in similar circumstances
Richard Shaw, who attemped to save the life of a young girl who entered the water in Withernsea, January 5, 2026(Image: SWNS)
A hero OAP has told how he watched a mum and her teen daughter drown in front of him despite his desperate efforts to save them. Richard Shaw, 68, tragically lost his dad in similar circumstances when he was just 12 in New Brighton.
Mr Shaw was alerted by screams to a young girl floundering among huge waves after she had been swept out to sea in East Yorkshire last week. A woman screamed at him to grab a lifebelt which he threw into the water at Withernsea after running down a ramp to the waters’ edge. Tragically Grace Keeling, 15, was unable to reach the belt.
Richard Shaw was alerted by screams to a young girl floundering among huge waves after she had been swept out to sea(Image: SWNS)
Richard then watched in horror as the woman who screamed for help – Grace’s mother Sarah Keeling, 45 – was then also swept into the sea by huge waves. Moments later Richard saw Grace floating face down, and lost sight of her mother as he himself was hit by two giant waves.
Finally he was hit by a third wave and washed up the ramp before being helped to safety by another passer-by on Friday, January 2. He told how he then sat against the prom wall and burst into tears as he knew he “couldn’t do anymore”.
A third person, Mark Ratcliffe, 67, drowned whilst trying to save the two women from the water. Breaking down in tears, Mr Shaw said: “I was immensely sad. I knew she’d gone. If she could been magically retrieved from that water she could have probably be saved.
“I knew the mother could not be stopped from attempting to save her and it was just immensely sad knowing that. This is an impossible situation. The sea is in charge here and we are not.”
Grace and Sarah Keeling both tragically died last week(Image: SWNS)
He had been walking his dog at about 3pm near the seaside resort’s Pier Towers when he first heard shouting. Mr Shaw noticed how the waves were “extremely high” and breaking against the sea wall.
When he looked over the wall between the ramp and the Pier Towers he saw someone in the “20 feet tall” waves. He said: “I ran to get to a life safer belt and at the same time I was shouting and asking for the coastguard.
“I retrieved the life saver belt from the container. It was not easy to throw the life ring. Each time a wave came in and out the girl would have been fully engulfed in the foam and froth of the sea. It was a very angry and horrible sea and she would disappear in underneath the backwash and then resurface and when she resurfaced I tried to time it through with the belt so it would land near her but sadly it did not.”
At this point Mr Shaw recalls seeing the girl’s mother stood to his right shouting at the girl to grab the life belt. But the girl was irresponsive and so the mother got closer to the bottom of the ramp to try and reach her.
Mr Shaw said he told the mum not enter the water but she was tragically captured by a wave. He said: “At this point the girl was not responding. Her hair was covered by her bomber jacket and she was faced down and she was not making any attempt to turn over. This girl was gone I thought.
“The mother was near the bottom of the ramp stumbling and falling and I thought I could maybe reach her. There was no way that mother was supposed to leave her daughter in that water no matter how much we tried to get her out.
“I thought I had the chance to reach her now where the water receded I moved in towards the bottom of the ramp and she would have been 20 feet away from me a huge wave just swept me off my feet and I was hit against the wall and smashed my knee.
“The waves just completely enveloped me and when I came from under the water I just looked over my right shoulder and saw that this wave was further out. I had a glimpse of this other man trying to help who had been swept by the waves.
“I then got hit by another wave and a third wave then hit me very heavily and washed me to the right to the bottom of the ramp and I decided there’s nothing I can do here apart from either get out or lose my life. Another young lady entered the waves at the same time as me but was able to escape around the same time as me. She was also trying to get to the mother.”
In tears, Mr Shaw explained that he walked away from the scene and started shouting for help. A man came to help him and dragged him away from the ramp. He was taken to the local cafe where he was served a hot drink where he met another man who tried to help with the rescue.
He said: “We have lived in this town now for 10 years and these tides were exceptional. It was the highest tide that we can get this time and the water was actually coming over the walls. It is horrific. I lost my dad in similar circumstances. He died when I was 12 after trying to rescue our dog from a high tide in New Brighton.”
With the passing of Mark Ratcliffe, mum and daughter he said: “I did not know any of them personally but it is a terrible situation. They did their best in such a terrific situation. My thoughts are with their families.”
In a tribute, his family, Mr Ratcliffe, was “a true selfless hero with a heart of gold, who was so cruelly taken trying to save others”. Paying tribute to Mark, his family said: “A true selfless hero with a heart of gold, who was so cruelly taken trying to save others.
“So many lives are now shattered that you’re gone. You were loved by so many people, and we will all miss you forever. A loving husband, father, son, brother and the best grandad anybody could ever wish for. Sleep tight, we love you, we miss you.”
The bodies of Sarah Keeling and Mark Ratcliffe were recovered on the evening of Friday, 2 January 2026. Searches are still ongoing to locate Grace. Residents will continue to see an increased police presence in and around the area as officers continue to search for the one remaining missing person.
A force spokesperson said: “A man who died trying to help two people stuck in the sea in Withernsea on Friday, 2 January has been named by family as 67-year-old Mark Ratcliffe. His family continue to be supported by specially trained officers.”
The alarm was raised just after 3pm on Friday in Withernsea, East Yorkshire. The incident resulted in a major search involving a rescue helicopter, air ambulance and RNLI crews from Withernsea, Bridlington and Hornsea Inshore Rescue. The search was paused at about 00:30am on Saturday and resumed at first light but was stood down at 4pm.
