British holidaymaker drowns in front of wife in sea off Italy coast
A British man has drowned on a family holiday in Italy after his sons rescued their mother but were unable to save him.
Brian Kent, 46, died after he “completely underestimated the undercurrent” when he went for a swim after lunch in the resort of Sperlonga, 60 miles from Rome.
His wife Sally was pulled to safety by the couple’s sons Connor and Aaron. Two other people who were on the beach later found Mr Kent and paramedics tried to resuscitate him but it was too late.
On Saturday night, Mr Kent’s sister-in-law Nicola Phillips, who was also on the trip, said he had waited for between 30 and 40 minutes before going into the sea after eating a pizza and drinking one glass of beer and questioned why a red flag had not been raised at the time.
She said that if it had the family would not have gone into the water.
“Brian was an incredible husband and father and he is going to be sorely missed by everyone,” she added.
“We completely underestimated the undercurrent and this proved to be a fatal error.”
She said the family had been staying in Rome and had been looking forward to the trip. She said they visited the coast after looking at pictures of the “spectacular beaches of Sperlonga” on the internet.
Staff at the Hotel Aurora, which over looks the beach, said high winds were affecting the sea.
The Foreign Office is providing assistance to Mr Kent’s famil
