Father and passerby died trying to save his two children who got swept out to sea, inquest hears

A father died alongside a passerby after trying to rescue his children who were swept out to sea, an inquest has heard.Wayne Taylor, 38, of Bishop Auckland, rushed into the sea at Seaton Carew beach in Hartlepool where his young son and daughter had been playing in the water on Sunday, July 12, after one of the youngsters got into distress.But an inquest heard that he drowned as he saved his children alongside selfless 62-year-old grandfather Ian Pascoe, of Peterlee, who ran in alongside him to help having been walking past with his wife and granddaughter.An inquest into their deaths opened today at Teesside Coroner's Court sitting at Middlesbrough Town Hall.Outlining the circumstances, area coroner for Teesside and Hartlepool Paul Appleton said Cleveland Police had been contacted at around 3.45pm by Mr Taylor's wife, who said their child had got into difficulty in the sea.Mr Appleton said: 'Mr Taylor and Mr Pascoe have entered into the water to attempt rescue of the child. 'A further male has also assisted and the child was retrieved from the water.'However, the two men failed to return to shore and a few minutes later and were, at last sighting, some 50 to 75m out, 'barely noticeable to the naked eye'. Father-of-two Wayne Taylor drowned while trying to save his two children from the sea, an inquest has heard Grandfather Ian Pascoe was walking along the beachfront with his wife and granddaughter when he rushed in to help Mr TaylorBy 4pm – just 15 minutes after the two men had rushed in to help – the coastguard had arrived and recovered them from the sea.They were then taken to the boathouse at Hartlepool Marina, where they were assessed by paramedics and declared dead. A provisional cause of death was given as drowning.Mr Appleton made directions for further reports to be obtained as well as confirmation on lifeguard provisions and dates for the next hearing. Locals say the beach needs a greater lifeguard presence, which presently only operates during the school summer holidays.The tragedy has shocked the community: floral tributes were left at the beach in memory of the pair while a GoFundMe in memory of Mr Taylor raised £15,097 before being closed. The funds are being split between the men's families.Mr Pascoe's son Dan praised his late father's actions, saying: 'He was the kind of person who has always done the right thing.'He stood up for what he thought was right and took action when other people might have stood by and watched.'He always lived his life like that, and I am so proud of him and so proud to call him my dad.'Speaking to The Mirror, Dan added: 'He passed his phone to my mum and said, "Here, hold this for me, I will be back in a bit."'He went in to try and save them. I know he'd do it 10 times over if he thought he was going to save a child's life.' Seaton Carew beach, where Mr Taylor and Mr Pascoe died saving Mr Taylor's children from the wavesDavey Short was one of the men who helped save the children.He said: 'The two younger kids were in the sea and they'd started to struggle in the waves.'I had taken a stroll along the beach from my mother's home nearby and was planning to have a dip but the sea looked a bit choppy and rough so I sat down on a sand dune looking out to sea.'I realised that there was a child in some trouble. They were getting buffeted by the waves and as I looked I saw a second figure next to the boy and he was face down in the water.'At first I thought he was snorkelling but I realised something had gone wrong. I discovered afterwards that the father of the children had gone in to rescue them and had been swept off and he didn't get back out.'A second man had also gone in and he drowned as well. He was a guy who had been out walking his dog with his partner and he ran in to help. She saw the whole thing, it's devastating to think about that.'I was the third person to go into the water. The children's mother was on the beach, she was hysterical and asking if I could help because she couldn't swim.'Her eldest son had gone into the water as well to try to rescue his brother and sister but they were still out there.'I managed to swim out and get hold of the boy. I told him, 'swim to me, swim to me,' and I managed to grab hold of his hand and pull him towards the shore.'The waves were strong and they were pushing us around and I lost my grip but with the help of another guy I got hold of him a second time and managed to get him to the shore.'