A WIDOW told a court of her distress over the death of her husband after he came to her aid in the sea whilst on holiday.

Keith Waite, 69, a chartered accountant who was born in Oxford, was swimming with his wife, Jasmine, off the town of Rethymno in Crete last August 16 when she got caught in a rip tide.

In a statement read out in Oxford Coroner’s Court yesterday, Mrs Waite said: “There were strong undercurrents that came out of nowhere.”

She said that when she realised she was in trouble: “I shouted to Keith to help me.”

Her husband pushed her back to safety towards some rocks, which she scrambled on to. But she said: “When I turned back to look, I saw Keith floating away from me.”

Although other swimmers managed to get Mr Waite back to shore and a doctor gave him CPR on the beach, the inquest heard he could not be revived.

Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter described the episode as “extremely tragic”, and said it “must have been a massive shock” for Mrs Waite.

Mr Salter said there was no actual evidence that Mr Waite, who lived in Reading Road, Rowstock, near Harwell, had died from drowning, yet he had suffered from ischaemic heart disease.

The coroner delivered a narrative verdict and said: “A strong undercurrent caused Mrs Waite to be in difficulty.

Mr Waite came to her assistance and pushed her back towards the beach, but he floated away.

“It was likely he suffered a heart attack and the cause of death is likely to be the combined effect of immersion in water and heart disease.”

The couple had holidayed in Crete for the previous seven years.