Father and son honoured in annual Willington Slate Rugby Trophy
A father and son who tragically drowned whilst fishing in Pembrokeshire were honoured this weekend at the first match of the annual Willington Slate Rugby Trophy at Pembroke RFC.
True to tradition, the rugby ball was passed between St Davids and Angle Lifeboat RNLI during a training exercise, when crew members expressed their honour at being able to participate in this commemoration.
Gareth Willington, 59, and his son, Daniel, 32, drowned on April 28, 2016, when their boat, the Harvester, sank off St Davids Head.
As part of the multi-agency search operation, St Davids RNLI launched the Tyne, the Tamar and the inshore lifeboats while Angle launched it Tamar class and Fishguard launched both its Trent and its inshore lifeboats.
Experienced fisherman Gareth and his son Daniel were searching for lobster and crab in choppy waters off the Pembrokeshire coast in their 38 ft vessel. Although seas were calm when they set off at 2.30 am from Milford Haven, the weather quickly deteriorated.
Daniel subsequently became tangled in ropes as they came close to the fishing grounds and he was dragged over the back of the boat. Gareth, a former oil rig worker for BP, frantically tried to cut through the ropes with a knife to free his son but he, too was pulled into the sea.
Gareth was found 16 hours later by a coastguard helicopter and was later pronounced dead in hospital. The body of his only son has never been found
Father and son honoured in annual Willington Slate Rugby Trophy
A father and son who tragically drowned whilst fishing in Pembrokeshire were honoured this weekend at the first match of the annual Willington Slate Rugby Trophy at Pembroke RFC.
True to tradition, the rugby ball was passed between St Davids and Angle Lifeboat RNLI during a training exercise, when crew members expressed their honour at being able to participate in this commemoration.
Gareth Willington, 59, and his son, Daniel, 32, drowned on April 28, 2016, when their boat, the Harvester, sank off St Davids Head.
As part of the multi-agency search operation, St Davids RNLI launched the Tyne, the Tamar and the inshore lifeboats while Angle launched it Tamar class and Fishguard launched both its Trent and its inshore lifeboats.
Experienced fisherman Gareth and his son Daniel were searching for lobster and crab in choppy waters off the Pembrokeshire coast in their 38 ft vessel. Although seas were calm when they set off at 2.30 am from Milford Haven, the weather quickly deteriorated.
Daniel subsequently became tangled in ropes as they came close to the fishing grounds and he was dragged over the back of the boat. Gareth, a former oil rig worker for BP, frantically tried to cut through the ropes with a knife to free his son but he, too was pulled into the sea.
Gareth was found 16 hours later by a coastguard helicopter and was later pronounced dead in hospital. The body of his only son has never been found