Witnessed in horror: Elderly man tried desperately to save a mother and her teenage daughter as powerful waves dragged them away before his eyes…

AN OAP desperately tried to save a mum and her teen daughter from drowning in the sea before they were swept away in front of him.

Rescue crews launched a major operation after three people disappeared in the water near Withernsea, off the East Yorkshire coast on Friday afternoon.

Richard Shaw, 68, desperately fought to save the mother and daughter as they were swept out to seaCredit: SWNS
 

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Rescue crews launched a major operation after three people disappeared in the water in East YorkshireCredit: SWNS
 

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Sarah Keeling and 15-year-old Grace Keeling both died in the tragic incidentCredit: Humberside Police
Cops later confirmed that a mother and daughter, 45-year-old Sarah Keeling and 15-year-old Grace Keeling, were two of the people involved in the tragic incident.

Sarah’s body was sadly recovered on Friday as well as the body of “hero” dad Mark Ratcliffe, 67, who was found unconscious in the water.

He died a short time later after leaping in to try and save the mum and daughter with searches still ongoing to locate teenager Grace.

Brave Richard Shaw, 68, desperately sought to save Sarah and Grace after he was alerted by screams to a young girl floundering among huge waves after she had been swept out to sea.

A woman screamed at him to grab a lifebelt which he threw into the water after running down a ramp to the waters’ edge but tragically Grace was unable to reach.

Richard then watched in horror as the woman who screamed for help – Grace’s mother Sarah – was then also swept into the sea.

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 passerby on Friday.

He told how he then sat against the wall and burst into tears as he knew he “couldn’t do anymore”.

Breaking down in tears, Richard 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.”

He had been walking his dog at about 3pm near the seaside resort’s Pier Towers when he first heard shouting.

Richard noticed how the waves were “extremely high” and breaking against the sea wall.

The third victim, Mark Ratcliffe, was hailed as ‘a true selfless hero with a heart of gold’Credit: PA
 

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A steady stream of well wishers came past to lay flowers and to pay their respects to those who had diedCredit: SWNS
 

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Richard had been walking his dog when he first heard shoutingCredit: SWNS
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 he recalls seeing the girl’s mother stood to his right shouting at the girl to grab the life belt.

But the girl was unresponsive and so the mother got closer to the bottom of the ramp to try and reach her.

Richard said he told the mum not to 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 also been swept by the waves.

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Breaking down in tears, Richard said ‘I was immensely sad’Credit: SWNS
 

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The incident resulted in a major searchCredit: SWNS
“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, Richard explained that he walked away from the scene and started shouting for help when 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 and met another man who tried to help with the rescue.

“We have lived in this town now for 10 years and these tides were exceptional,” he said.

“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.”

The incident resulted in a major search involving a rescue helicopter, air ambulance and RNLI crews from Withernsea, Bridlington and Hornsea Inshore Rescue.

Police tape sealed off the steep steps down to sea underneath the town’s famous Pier Towers following the tragedy.

A steady stream of well wishers came past to lay flowers and to pay their respects to those who had died.

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Tributes flooded in for the victimsCredit: SWNS