A student nurse died on her dream trip volunteering in Ghana after she went for a midnight swim with her friends and hit her head in the water, an inquest heard.
Millie Ann Gentry, 19, was only around two weeks into her month-long student placement as a volunteer at a hospital in Ghana, West Africa, when she sadly died on March 17 last year.
Miss Gentry, from Gomersal in Kirklees, West Yorkshire was staying with her friend Erin Byrnes, from Halifax in the beach resort of Busua on the south west coast of the African nation.
The pair decided to go for a swim in the sea along with their friend Lewis Mallinson, just after midnight, an inquest heard.
After a few drinks at a pool bar, they returned to their room because of a 10pm curfew, but they went out for the swim at around 12.30am.
In a statement, Miss Byrnes, who is not a strong swimmer, said the wave ‘pulled us all in’ when they were swimming. She tried to keep her friend afloat and shouted for help, but could see she had drowned, YorkshireLive reports.
She was rescued from the sea as others kept searching for Miss Gentry. Their friend Mr Mallinson, also a volunteer, said they had been in water for about 15 minutes while the waves and current were strong.
In a statement, he said that his two friends were ‘struggling’ in the water and that he had ‘no choice but to leave them and call for help’.
Miss Byrnes was rescued after around half an hour and Miss Gentry’s body was recovered four hours later, he told the inquest.
They had been helped by around 30 local villagers in rescuing the young women.
After a post mortem, it was found that Miss Gentry had drowned and had a head injury inflicted on her while in the sea.
Her mother Tracy provided a statement to the inquest on the family’s behalf, describing her daughter, who had three siblings, as a ‘beautiful girl’ who was going to devote herself to children’s nursing. She was studying a nursing degree at Bradford University.
She said her kind daughter had the ‘biggest heart’ and was intelligent. She said her boyfriend Elvis gave her the confidence to try new things and explore.
Christopher Holland, a director of firm The Mighty Roar which organised the trip, told the inquest of the safety information given the volunteers, which included advice not to swim overnight.
Martin Fleming, a senior coroner, gave the conclusion that Miss Gentry died as a result of misadventure after she and her friends were ‘overwhelmed’ unexpectedly while swimming at sea.
He said it was thought she had banged her head while in the sea.
There was no evidence that the student nurse had drunk more than a couple of drinks before going swimming.
A Go Fund Me page was set up to support Miss Gentry’s family after her shock death. More than £4,500 was raised after donations from in more than 150 kind donors.
The page said she was a ‘bright, smiley and caring individual’ and the she would be deeply missed by her friends and family.
In a tribute to her friend, Miss Byrnes said: ‘Millie had the kindest soul and was such an amazing girl, we had so many memories together which I’ll forever cherish and I feel so lucky to have been her friend.’
Source: dailymail.co.uk
