A courageous pensioner fought against treacherous 20-foot waves in a desperate, ultimately tragic, attempt to save a teenage girl and her mother from drowning off the coast of East Yorkshire last Friday.
A Desperate Battle Against the Sea
Richard Shaw, 68, was walking his dog near Withernsea's Pier Towers at approximately 3pm when he heard desperate screams coming from the water. Looking over the sea wall, he saw 15-year-old Grace Keeling floundering in the colossal, angry surf after being swept out to sea.
Her mother, 45-year-old Sarah Keeling, screamed at Mr Shaw to grab a lifebelt. He sprinted to a life-saving station, retrieved the ring, and ran down a ramp to the water's edge. With immense difficulty, he hurled the lifebelt towards Grace, but the relentless, towering waves prevented her from reaching it.
"Each time a wave came in and out the girl would have been fully engulfed in the foam and froth of the sea," a distraught Mr Shaw later recounted. "It was a very angry and horrible sea."
Multiple Lives Lost in Rescue Attempt
In a heart-wrenching turn, Mr Shaw then witnessed Sarah Keeling herself being swept into the violent sea as she tried to reach her daughter, who was by then unresponsive. He called out, urging her not to enter the water, but a mother's instinct proved overpowering.
As Mr Shaw moved down the ramp, hoping to reach Sarah, a massive wave knocked him off his feet, smashing him against the wall and injuring his knee. He was hit by two more giant waves before a third washed him back up the ramp, where another passerby helped him to safety.
Tragically, a third individual, 67-year-old Mark Ratcliffe, also lost his life while attempting to save the girl and her mother from the churning waters.
Ongoing Search and Heartfelt Tributes
Following a major search operation involving helicopters, an air ambulance, and RNLI crews from Withernsea, Bridlington, and Hornsea, the bodies of Sarah Keeling and Mark Ratcliffe were recovered on the evening of Friday, 2nd January 2026. Searches for Grace Keeling continued over the weekend and into Monday.
Humberside Police confirmed an increased presence in the area during the ongoing search. A police spokesperson stated: "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."
In a moving tribute, Mr Ratcliffe's family described him as "a true selfless hero with a heart of gold, who was so cruelly taken trying to save others."
Overcome with emotion after the event, Richard Shaw sat against the promenade wall and wept. "I was immensely sad," he said. "I knew she'd gone. This is an impossible situation. The sea is in charge here and we are not." He revealed a personal connection to the tragedy, having lost his own father in similar circumstances during a rescue attempt when he was a child.
The community of Withernsea and the families involved are now left to mourn an unimaginable loss, a stark reminder of the sea's formidable and unforgiving power.
