AN HEROIC surf and watersports enthusiast from Chester saved the life of a drowning woman caught in a killer riptide.

Karl Challinor bravely paddled into the powerful current and brought Jennifer Liu, 21, safely ashore to Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall.

Karl was born and bred in Chester and learned his swim-safety skills from his mother Joan and his father Raymond – a local electrician and keen swimmer who swam the celebrated ‘Dee Mile’ in Chester at the tender age of 13.

His brother Kevin still lives in the city and works for British Aerospace and his sister Donna also stayed in Chester where she is a school dinner lady.

Karl moved to Newquay around 10 years ago to pursue his watersports.

At 50 years old Karl still plays water polo each week and is an accomplished longboard surfer.

At an inquest last week, Cornwall’s deputy coroner praised the self-employed builder for his rescue of a drowning Northumbria University student.

Coroner Andrew Cox made the remarks during an inquest into the death of 22-year-old student Hery Kurniawan.

Mr Challinor saved Jennifer’s life but neither he nor the RNLI coastguard could reach her friend on the afternoon of June 27 last year.

Coroner Mr Cox, himself a surfer of Perranporth break, told the longboarder: “It is difficult enough for a trained life saver to get anyone out of the surf.

“It speaks volumes for you that you did so for Miss Liu.”

Karl was on the beach after a morning swim and surf in rough conditions, with four-foot waves and a strong north to south rip.

Hery Kurniawan – pronounced ‘Harry’ – was diving in and out of the waves with Jennifer when they both got caught in a swell.

Holidaymaker Hery ‘heroically’ put his arm around the woman to try and lift her to shore as she choked on sea water – but in doing so, got dragged away by a wave himself.

Luckily for the 21-year-old advertising student, Karl had paddled over and the current washed Jennifer into his path – at the same time that it dragged her friend away.

Mr Challinor recalled: “I went back in with my board and although the surf was quite noisy I thought I heard a murmur. There was a man and a woman about 10 metres to my left.

“The man was bobbing up and down as if he was trying to push out of the water and they both seemed to be in trouble. He seemed the stronger of the two.

“I paddled over to try and get them. I began to turn my board to get to them but at that point a wave hit me and knocked me off my board.

“I got straight back on and paddled out. I saw the woman floating there on her back like a starfish. I couldn’t see any sign of the man.

“I slid her on to my surfboard and headed to the beach.

“I thought she was dead. In the shallows I got ready to resuscitate her but then she coughed, so I brought her in to shore.”

Recording a verdict of accidental death Mr Cox said: “Hery was not a strong swimmer. He got into difficulties by trying to help Miss Liu.

“She swallowed water and thought she was going to drown. Mr Kurniawan has heroically gone to help her and in attempting to do so, tragically, he has died himself.

“Miss Liu can consider herself extremely fortunate that Mr Challinor was on hand.”

After the case Mr Challinor said: “My parents brought me up to have a keen sense of water safety.

“We would go on holiday to Colwyn Bay and play water polo in the shallows.

“Whenever the ball went out of reach my Mum would say ‘Just leave it’ – and we would just watch it drift away, while she explained about the currents.

“My Dad, who’s no longer with us, was a local electrician and all the family were well-known in the town: he swam the Dee Mile when he was 13.

“I’ve been swimming since I was eight, and I was just in the right place at the right time on this occasion.”