British mother dies after trying to rescue her sons from strong current in the Bahamas

A 36-year-old British woman died in the Bahamas after she went into the water to help her two sons, who had been carried out to sea by a strong current while the family was snorkeling, according to a Gray News report carried by Dakota News Now, WCAX, WIS and Valley News Live.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said the woman had been snorkeling with her husband and their two sons near the southern tip of the island when the current pulled the children away, Gray News reported. Police said she was also carried off by the water as she tried to reach them.

She was eventually pulled from the water and brought to a ferry dock, where CPR was performed, according to police. She was then taken to a local medical clinic, where a doctor pronounced her dead. Police said an autopsy will be carried out.

The BBC identified the woman as Leanne Gregory of Stapleford in Nottinghamshire, England, according to the Gray News report. The report did not name the island where the incident took place.

Her husband, Nathan Gregory, has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the couple's two sons, People reported, as cited by Gray News. He said the two had been together for 22 years and had been sweethearts since childhood.

"This loss is unimaginable for our family, she was our foundation, our support, she made us who we are," Nathan Gregory said, according to the report.

In the fundraising page, he gave his account of what happened after the boys were swept away. He wrote that his wife kept one of their sons afloat until the child could be rescued, but that she "didn't have the energy to save herself," Gray News reported. He also described a sudden large wave that carried her away from a boat that had come to assist the family.

Nathan Gregory said both of his sons made it out of the water safely, and he expressed gratitude to his wife for holding their son above the surface even as she was struggling, according to the report.

The ages of the two boys were not reported. Bahamian police have not released further details about the circumstances of the incident beyond the planned autopsy, according to the Gray News account.

Compiled by True News from reporting by Dakota News Now, WCAX, WIS and Valley News Live. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/467