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British paddleboarder Scott Seddon was filmed laughing and joking with a close friend as he emerged from the sea – just minutes before he was struck by lightning and killed.
The keen sportsman, 26, died after being hit by a bolt of lightning shortly after emerging from the water during what appeared to be clear weather over the Greek island of Rhodes.
The video shows Scott full of life, athletic and clearly very happy – and gives no hint that he was in any apparent danger with an earlier storm seeming to have passed.
It was released to MailOnline by his devastated family who want it made public to show that Scott had left the sea when the incident happened and was not acting in any way recklessly.
Scott’s heartbroken mother said he had been having ‘the time of his life’ before his tragic death in the freak accident on Monday afternoon, when, she said, ‘God just decided to take him’.
Video taken moments before Scott Seddon was struck by lightning shows him hauling his paddleboard out of the sea
The extraordinary video shows Scott full of life, athletic, clearly very happy and with no hint that he was in any apparent danger – as an earlier storm seemed to have passed
Initial reports from Greece had suggested that Scott died while out to sea during an electrical storm at Agia Agathi as his close friend Anna Vidamour, 24 begged him to come in.
But Scott’s mother and father, who were in the ambulance as paramedics tried to save his life, said the weather was sunny and an earlier storm had apparently passed.
They point out that the video shows there was no hint of an imminent electrical storm as he returned to the beach on Monday afternoon in sunlight and only partial cloud.
His family insist experienced boarder Scott knew the dangers of the sea or weather in Greece where they used to live for years before coming home to Liverpool.
His father Stephen, 68, said: ‘We have lived in Greece for the last 30 years.
‘He knows the water and respects the water. He wasn’t some silly tourist who get on a board to go somewhere dangerous.
‘He was laughing coming out of the water. They put the canoes on the shore and they were standing on the stand and they hugged.
‘He was not in danger and was not dragged out of the water.’
Scott’s mother described him as a ‘beautiful’ and ‘flamboyant’ man who loved the sea. ‘He would catch octopus and give it to the locals,’ she said
Anna Vidamour (pictured), understood to be a regular visitor to the Greek island with Scott, was devastated by the events, it is said
Scott, who lived with his sister Layla and father Steve in a large bungalow in Liverpool, was described by close friends as a ‘lovely guy’ and ‘really popular’.
The avid sportsman, who had trained to be a civil engineer and worked in the building trade, spoke Greek and was a regular visitor to the family’s holiday home.
‘He wasn’t a tourist and he knew and respected the water,’ his dad said.
‘The locals loved him and he went to school there.
‘We are devastated. We will never get over losing him.’
Anna, 24, from Belfast, who was close to Scott but not dating him – he was soon to go on another trip to visit his girlfriend – had taken the video just five minutes before he was struck.
Scott’s mother Jackie, 56, told MailOnline: ‘They got out of the water and they were so happy that they had come out of the water.
Scott was a keen sportsman who had been having ‘the time of his life’ before his tragic death, according to his mother
‘They were having a laugh and he asked his friend to take the video as there was no danger.
‘They put the board down and the lighting struck him on the back of the neck.
‘Scott did not have any metal on him – just two little earrings.
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‘It looked like the storm had gone, the danger was finished.
‘It was just a freak accident.
‘He wasn’t on the board and it was not anywhere near him.
‘When Scott fell, he fell into the water. He was too heavy for Anna to lift so a Brazilian man came to help.’
She added: ‘My son went out having the time of his life, and God just decided to take him.
Scott grew up in Greece and went to school there before moving back to Liverpool (pictured as a child at the beach)
Beachgoers and emergency services desperately tried to save Mr Seddon’s life (pictured surfing in July 2021) but they were unable to revive him
‘Lightning struck him in an instant. It was a terrible, sad thing that happened.
‘I texted him not to walk back and told him a storm was coming, so he was aware.’
Jackie and Stephen had come to pick him up to take him home but then saw an ambulance.
Fighting back tears, his mother said: ‘As we got closer to the ambulance, I saw my son’s foot.
‘I saw Anna and she said: “He’s been hit”.
Mr Seddon (pictured), who lived with his sister Layla and father Steve in a large bungalow in Liverpool, was described by close friends as a ‘lovely and really popular guy’
‘I was thinking he had been hit by a car or boat. Stephen was on the floor in the ambulance crying: “It’s my son”.’
The family in the ambulance and Stephen helped give CPR to his son – who the family nicknamed Elvis – before they got to hospital.
Speaking in the family’s large bungalow, Jackie said: ‘They worked on him for an hour.
‘They gave him adrenaline. I begged them: “Please give him one more”.
‘So they gave him one more. They tried and they weren’t going to give up.
‘But he had gone. I asked the doctor if they had found water in his lungs because I didn’t know he’d been struck by lightning.’
Anna, 24, from Belfast, who was close to Scott but not dating him, had taken the video just five minutes before he was struck
She added: ‘Scott was fearless. He was one of a kind, he was flamboyant. A beautiful blonde boy.
‘He would catch octopus and give it to the locals.’
His sister Layla, 24, said: ‘By the time they came out of the water it was sunny.
‘When they were on their boards, they saw a bit of lightning but by the time they got in, it was in the distance, it had already passed.
‘There was no crazy water or lightning. The danger had gone.’
His sister added: ‘I am just numb over losing him.
‘It doesn’t feel real. Everyone adored him.’
The couple also released new pictures of Scott and his sister as children in tribute.
Scott was planning to go surfing with his girlfriend as well as running the bulls in Spain.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
