Thousands raised for RNLI who tried to save scuba diver

Aged just 11, Jo Durnford lost her mother in a scuba diving accident, leading to her needing years of intense trauma therapy.

Jo, who now lives in Worcester, raised £8,000 for St Davids and Little and Broad Haven RNLI, who tried to save her mum Sue, who was just 36 when the accident happened.

Yesterday (Thursday, August 30) Miss Durnford went to meet members of the crew that tried to help her mother.

“I have struggled for years with my emotions because of what happened,” Miss Durnford said.

“I was only 11, and my brother was 14 when it happened. We struggled, I completely avoided everything to do with lifeboats and the water for years.

“I just felt very lost, it felt like we weren’t allowed to grieve, it happened in August and then I started secondary school in September.”

Malcolm Gray, second Coxswain from St Davids RNLI, was there on the day and remembered the incident.

“The weather was awful,” he said.

“All we knew was that there were scuba divers in the water – one a novice.

“The novice came to the surface and we just saw this stream of bubbles. We sent the diver down and there she was.”

John Scrivener, one of the divers at the incident, said he still remembers getting the call.

“It was many years ago, I remember getting the call. We did a sweep of the area and found bubbles coming up from a leakage on the regulator.

“I went down and Sue was there lying on the seabed, it was a horrible experience.”

Jo now works as a face painter in Worcester under the name Artistic Tinker. To raise money, she held a family fun day with the goal of raising £1,000.

“I started the fundraiser in March and hit the target in six days, then it just went completely mad.

“Just before the event we hit £5000, and on the day we raised another £2030.

“After the event, I found it very difficult, but I thought I would keep it going until I got to £8,000, which we hit two weeks ago.

“That fun day was all about the children and my mother would have loved that.”

Miss Durnford said that she would not have been able to do it without the support of her daughter, Emmie.

“My daughter Emmie, she’s nine, she’s been so brilliant, so supportive throughout all this.

“I have done it for her as well, so she can see that negative things can be turned into a positive.”

After meeting members of the crew, Jo was taken to lay yellow roses on the water where the accident occurred.

Jo said that this was her way of trying to put the past behind her, she said: “I have carried this burden for 30 years.

“This was my thank you to the RNLI, I don’t know where it came from, but I had to do something.

“If this money can save one child from losing their mum, then that would be good enough for me.”

“I will never be able to forget, but I have got to move on, she would not want me to be sad.”