ONLOOKERS at the canoe launch in Ross-on-Wye leaped into action to try and save the life of a young woman who got into difficulties in the River Wye last summer, an inquest has heard.

Herefordshire Coroner’s Court heard that a man had tried to swim out to the stricken swimmer when he himself began to struggle and returned to shore just after 5pm on June 28, last year.

The small crowd of onlookers, concerned about the missing woman, were approached by members of a water sports club, visiting from Dorset, who asked if they needed help, They set about looking for Karthika Sreeja-Ramachandran, 28, a proficient swimmer who would swim in a variety of pools back home in India.

Sophie Eaton, a member of the water sports club, told the inquest that she canoed along the far bank of the river to see if the missing woman had got caught up in the overhanging branches, while other members of the club searched the area where Karthika had last been seen.

Ms Eaton returned to the steps of Ross-on-Wye Rowing Club a short while later, where she teamed up with Ian Palmer and together they resumed their search.

After a few minutes, they saw what looked like a large pebble in the water before realising it was a woman’s body. They jumped in to retrieve the woman.

Mr Palmer said: “When I first saw Karthika, she was face down on the rivered bed, at a depth of about seven feet. I jumped into the water, and I put my arms around her and brought her to the surface with Ms Eaton’s assistance.

“We then paddled her to the slipway, where we handed her over to the emergency services, which had just arrived at the scene, so they could carry out CPR.”

The inquest heard that the initial rescue had taken 20 minutes and that the woman was unresponsive despite fire service officers carrying out CPR.

The inquest heard that within minutes, the air ambulance had arrived with the crew carrying specialist equipment which they used on the patient in a bid to revive the woman.

But after 40 minutes Dr Ben Hall said that, sadly Karthika’s position was unretrievable and pronounced her dead at the scene at 6.01pm.

The inquest was told that Karthika came from Kerala in India as a student in 2023 and had recently obtained a job a few weeks earlier in Ross and working at a local care home and was happy that she had found a job with a sponsor.

Mumthas Abdul Rasheed, a colleague from the care home where they both worked said that she first was introduced to Karthika a few weeks earlier in May, and as she didn’t have anywhere to stay, she suggested that she could lodge with her for a few weeks until she found her own place to live.

She explains that on June 28 that Karthika wanted to go to the river to swim before they started their night shift.

At approximately 2pm Mumthas and her husband and Karthika made their way to the River Wye and sat on the riverbank and had a picnic.

The inquest heard that Karthika, who was already wearing her swimming costume under her clothes, went into the water for a paddle. She then decided to go further along the river where it was deeper and started swimming.

Mumthas said: “But as soon as she started swimming, she appeared to get into difficulty and went under the water a few times before we lost sight of her.

“By this time, she was closer to the opposite bank. My husband entered the water, but he found himself getting into difficulty and swam back to shore.

“We summoned help from those nearby, who immediately launched canoes into the river in a bid to locate Karthika.”

Pathologist Dr Mark Hayes confirmed that Karthika hadn’t suffered from any form of trauma or was suffering from any natural diseases. He added that she didn’t show any evidence of consuming any alcohol or taking any drugs prior to death.

The doctor concluded that the medical cause of death was freshwater drowning.

West Mercia Police told the inquest that they found no evidence that Karthika’s death was suspicious or that there had been any third-party involvement.

James Bennett, the Herefordshire Coroner said that it was unknown as to why Karthika got into difficulty in such calm conditions.

Mr Bennett officially recorded the medical cause of death as freshwater drowning and added: “I take this opportunity to express my condolences to Karthika’s family and friends as clearly what happened was a terrible accident.”

Coroner’s Conclusion: Accidental death.