Girlfriend watched on FaceTime as her boyfriend died after accidentally falling into the Thames
30 October 2022, 23:07
A woman witnessed her boyfriend dying over FaceTime as he lost his footing and plunged into the River Thames.
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Swansea man James East, 25, was on a night out with his girlfriend Arabella in Kingston, south-west London on September 25.
They became separated so he went outside to FaceTime call her.
Sitting down on a bridge crossing the Thames, Mr East misjudged his footing, slipping and falling backwards.
He hit his head, knocking himself unconscious, before plummeting into the water below.
The emergency services were called but he died three hours later in hospital. A post-mortem found that he died of his head injuries.
Paying tribute to Mr East, his sister Abigail Bladen, and mum, Sara Ivey, said: "His poor girlfriend, Arabella, was actually on FaceTime to him trying to direct him to their taxi, and she has gone through hell now as she has watched that happen.
"He was in the water for 50 minutes and then they found him and took him to hospital where they worked on him for three hours to try and save him.
"When he had the post mortem, it was found that he was dead before he entered the water due to his head injuries, but they didn't realise that...
They added: "We're just devastated. It's awful, he's so young and had so much to look forward to.
Ms Bladen said: "To be honest, it still hasn't registered with us. It was just horrendous for my mum, Kingston Police had to call South Wales Police who then had to come here at 4:50am and knock the door.
"It was a three-and-a-half hour drive up there which was just horrendous for my mum and our stepdad.
"They asked them to pull over halfway to say they couldn't work on him any longer and that there was nothing they could do.
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"It's horrendous, just for them being on the side of the motorway and to receive that news."They tried to get a police escort, but couldn't get one, so they had to drive the rest of the way."
James, who studied at the prestigious London School of Economics and had a business development job in London.
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Abigail said: "People had such nice things to say about him, and it was nice to know he was so happy and doing so well, but it's just bittersweet because we wanted that to carry on for him.
"He absolutely loved London and he used to joke that he only ever used to come home to see his niece, but we are a close family and he is a home bird at heart."
It took two weeks for James' family to be able to bring him back home to Swansea, and he was laid to rest on October 13.
His sister added: "He had so many friends. He'll definitely be best remembered for his cheeky smile - that got him away with everything. He meant different things to everyone.
"With his friends he was the life and soul, but to us he was just perfect, he was really loving and loved his niece to bits."
