A mother grieving for her drowned son is helping the RNLI to raise awareness of water safety

Plamen Petkov had appeared to be like any other visitor to the beach, until he drowned saving the life of a 5-year-old girl. A devoted son to Antoaneta and older brother to Zhenya, the 32-year-old loved exploring the countryside and lived with his long-term girlfriend.

On that particular Summer’s day in May 2012, Plamen walked along the beach in West Wittering, West Sussex, talking to his friend. But a mother’s shout for help, as her daughter was dragged out to sea on an inflatable rubber ring, would set in motion a tragic turn of events. Within seconds Plamen had dived into the water and was swimming towards the girl who was being taken further and further out.

When he reached her, exhausted, she jumped into his arms and he tried to swim back towards the shore, holding her head above the waves. But Plamen himself was being dragged underwater by the current.

A woman stepped in to take the child; Plamen was brought unconscious to the shore. An air ambulance arrived 40 minutes later but he could not be saved.

That day is a recurring nightmare that his mother, Antoaneta lives through. ‘I’m still in disbelief’, she says, sitting beside a framed picture of her son, at her home in Sutton, Surrey. ‘He’s left a huge gap in our lives.

‘Everybody was shocked at what happened, but at the same time they were not surprised; my son had a very good heart. Everyone says it.’

Plamen, an electrician and British citizen of Bulgarian descent, has since been posthumously awarded the highest Bulgarian civilian distinction for self-sacrifice – the Honorary Decoration of St George. The award, however cherished, is small comfort for his mother.

But in grief has come a determination to raise awareness about the risks the sea can carry. ‘People don’t need to be afraid to go into the sea, but they need to have respect for it,’ Antoaneta says.

Around 400 people drown in UK waters every year; 150 of those at the coast. An average of 140 people drown in Ireland each year too, the majority of incidents occurring inland, according to statutory body Irish Water Safety. It's hard facts like these that compel the RNLI to end preventable loss of life at sea. Antoaneta said she supported RNLI’s aim to make beaches and inland waters in the UK and RoI safer.

‘We don’t want anyone else to suffer a tragedy like ours,’ she says.