Man who couldn't swim drowned while saving child from water

A "kind and caring" man drowned after getting in to difficulty in a river after saving his stepdaughter, an inquest has heard.

Reza Zolali was walking alongside the River Erme in Ivybridge, Devon, in June last year when his stepdaughter started struggling in the water.

Despite not being able to swim, Reza got into the water and was able to rescue the girl. She then raised the alarm to nearby dog-walkers but Reza sadly died.

After coming to the UK from Iran in search of a better education, Reza met Kaylie McGrath and became a loving stepdad to her two daughters, and then father to Jasmine.

Kaylie spoke to ITV News after the incident and described him as a 'kind and caring person'.

She said: "All he ever wanted to do was provide for me and the girls. He always promised me the world, but I didn't need that because he was so kind and caring and loving.

"He was such a kind, caring person. He was helping out at the food bank, he went to church on Sundays, he was such a kind person who didn't deserve to die," Kaylie said.

The 31-year-old was due to be handed British citizenship the week after the accident occurred.

At an inquest in Plymouth, the coroner Ian Arrow said that Reza was under the water for around 20 minutes before members of the public who jumped in, dragged him from the six feet deep pool and began CPR.

One of the people involved, Jackie Winterburn, said she had seen two young children on their own in the woods, who told her there had been an accident.

When she was shown to the pool, she saw Reza was under the water.

Ms Winterburn said: "What happened was tragic. Everyone who helped was brilliant. The little boy and girl deserve some praise for being so calm too."

Detective Constable Rachel Walke said the pool was deceptively deep and there were no obvious grabbing points for people to get out of the river.

The coroner recorded an accidental death conclusion.