Disabled woman, 20, dies after her wheelchair falls into sea

 

A 20 year old woman has died after she fell into the sea at Lyme Regis in Dorsert while strapped to her electric wheelchair.

The woman was waiting to take a boat cruise from Victoria Pier harbour in Lyme Regis with her family when she fell into the sea.

The severely disabled woman, from Solihull in the West Midlands, was on the Victoria Pier harbour wall with her family waiting to take a boat cruise when her wheelchair rolled into the water.

Members of her family, the boat skipper and RNLI personnel from the nearby lifeboat station dived in after she sank to the bottom of the three-metre deep water around the harbour.

After taking her unconscious body to the surface, she was flown by air ambulance to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester but later died.

A police spokesman said: 'They were on holiday in Lyme Regis and were waiting to go on a charter boat trip when tragically the wheelchair fell into deep water.

'Rescue efforts were made by the family, the boat skipper and later by emergency services, including coastguards, lifeboat and police.

'After considerable difficulty she was able to be freed.'

Dorset Police have launched an investigation and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.