A British tourist has died while on holiday in Tenerife after a “freak wave” knocked her into rocks during a morning swim.
Rose Buck, 56, a postal worker from West Yorkshire, had gone into the sea at Costa Adeje, Tenerife, on February 25 after discovering her hotel pool was closed.
Her daughter, Chantelle Buck-Forrest, 39, said her mother was a “really strong swimmer” who regularly sought out the calm waters of a spot she called the “blue lagoon”.
The area is typically sheltered and popular with swimmers of all ages.
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However, as Ms Buck swam close to rocks, a sudden wave struck and threw her violently against them.
Ms Buck-Forrest believes a 4.1 magnitude earthquake recorded in Tenerife that day may have triggered the unusual surge.
She said: “She was a really strong swimmer and she was swimming the perimeter of the lagoon and it was just one freak wave that took her.
“It just flung her against the rocks.”
Rose Buck, 56, a postal worker from West Yorkshire, tragically passed away on March 8, after a freak accident in the sea
|KENNDEDY NEWS AND MEDIA
The impact left Ms Buck unconscious in the water after suffering a catastrophic neck injury, including a broken C2 vertebra.
She remained submerged for around five minutes before being spotted by someone on the beach.
Emergency services were alerted, and it took a further 13 minutes to resuscitate her.
She was then rushed to hospital in the north of the island in a critical condition.
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The family's GoFundMe page has raised over £14,000
|KENNEDY NEWS AND MEDIA
Ms Buck-Forrest, who lives in Bradford, said the wait for answers in the days that followed was agonising for the family.
She said: “I’m absolutely devastated, I couldn’t stop crying.
“It’s been horrendous. I’ve been walking around feeling like I’ve been shot in the chest.”
Doctors initially focused on stabilising Ms Buck, who had taken in significant amounts of water and was suffering from hypothermia.
As she was on a ventilator, they were unable to immediately assess the extent of any brain injury.
After several days, her condition improved enough for further examination.
However, medics discovered she had suffered severe oxygen deprivation and a bleed on the brain stem.
Ms Buck-Forrest said: “They were then worried about the brain damage. But then they saw a bleed on her brain stem.”
With little chance of recovery, the family made the difficult decision to turn off her life support.
Ms Buck died in hospital on March 8, just days after the incident.
Despite the tragedy, Ms Buck-Forrest, who is a children’s playcentre director, said that whilst what has happened to her mum is a tragedy, the response from people have brought her comfort and she has set up a GoFundMe to help the family.
The page has raised over £14,000.
She said: "Everybody who has contacted me has said she is either one of the nicest people they know or the nicest person they've ever met.
"The amount of people far and wide, people who I didn't even know knew her, it's been mind blowing, she's touched so many people's lives.
"When we were sat having breakfast, my brother was just sat scrolling on Instagram, and he just said 'oh my gosh it's International Women's Day today, so she died on International Women's Day which felt like homage to her.
"Although I feel like I've got this massive loss and I'm holding so much sorrow, I feel the same amount of love and support and honour on the other hand.
"The amount of people that have contacted me has opened my eyes to what a woman my mum is and I feel honoured to be her daughter."
The GoFundMe page for Ms Buck’s family can be found here.