Susan Taylor, 34, Dies Swimming English Channel: "Suddenly Collapses" in Last Part of 21 Mile Race
A family grieved on Sunday after their 34-year-old daughter suddenly collapsed while trying to swim the English Channel.
Susan Taylor, 34, from Barwell, Leicestershire, died in Boulogne on Sunday after paramedic attempts failed to revive her. One of the paramedics, who is also Taylor's brother, says immediate efforts were made to save Taylor's life. She was then air lifted to a hospital where she later died.
Taylor "suddenly collapsed" during the final part of a 21-mile charity race to raise money for Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough and Diabetes in the UK, according to the BBC. Taylor has raised over $4,500 prior to the event.
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Those who were close to Taylor say that she was a confident swimmer who practiced often and was known for her skill.
"I'm just gobsmacked. She was a truly lovely girl and this is an absolute tragedy," Taylor's neighbour David Kitto told the BBC. "She was a very good swimmer; you used to see her going up and down in the fast lane at the pool and all the staff there knew her and got to know what she was doing."
Rainbow Hospice chief executive Geoff Ellis also spoke highly of Taylor, remarking that she was a close member of the charity organization.
"Susan was a wonderful woman who would do anything for anybody. She has been a much loved ambassador at Rainbows for over two years, helping out at events and tirelessly fundraising for us," Ellis told the BBC. "She was more than an ambassador; she was part of the Rainbows family."
Swimming the English Channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, was always a dream for Taylor.
"I used to be with the St John Ambulance and I met a woman who said to me: 'You'll swim the Channel one day,'" she told the Hinckley Times before she began the estimated 15-hour race.
In one of her last Facebook posts, Taylor wished her fellow swimmers good luck.
"Good luck to all my swimming friends this weekend and the week to come....it's going to be a busy week, keep swimming n keep safe everyone," she wrote Friday.
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