Mille Ann Gentry was halfway through her volunteering placement when she went for a midnight swim with friends that ended in tragedy (Picture: Facebook)
A student nurse died after hitting her head during a midnight swim with friends, an inquest heard.
Milie Ann Gentry, was roughly two weeks into her month-long trip volunteering at a hospital in south west Ghana when she died on March 17 last year.
She had been staying with her friend Erin Byrnes at the beach resort of Busua, and they had decided to go for a dip in the sea with friend Lewis Mallinson after drinking at a pool bar.
Byrnes said in a subsequent statement that the tide ‘pulled us all in’, and that she had tried to keep Gentry afloat after she hit her head but could already see the young nurse had drowned.
Byrnes was rescued from the waves by a team of 30 villagers around half an hour after they went swimming, but it took others more than four hours to recover Gentry’s body.
A post-mortem determined Gentry drowned after sustaining a head injury.
In a tribute to her friend, Byrnes said: ‘Millie had the kindest soul and was such an amazing girl, we had so many memories together which I’ll forever cherish and I feel so lucky to have been her friend.’
It was more than four hours before a team of roughly 30 villagers were able to retrieve Gentry’s body from the water (Picture: Facebook)
The deceased’s mother, Tracy, also described her late daughter as a ‘beautiful girl’ who wanted to devote her life to taking care of sick children after obtaining her degree at Bradford University.
She added that Gentry had the ‘biggest heart’ and was fiercely intelligence, and had had her confidence boosted by boyfriend Elvis, who encouraged her to try new things and explore the world.
A friend who was with Gentry on the night of her death has described her as ‘an amazing girl’ with the ‘kindest soul’ (Picture: Facebook)
Christopher Holland, director of The Mighty Roar, which organised Gentry’s volunteering trip, told the inquest that volunteers had been advised not to go swimming at night as part of the safety information they were given on arrival.
The senior coroner, Martin Fleming, who oversaw the inquest determined that Gentry had died due to ‘misadventure’ and that her friends had been ‘overwhelmed’ by the current.
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It was added there was no evidence Gentry had more than a few drinks before heading down to the water.
Since Gentry’s death, a Go Fund Me page, describing her as a ‘bright, smiley and caring individual, has raised more than £4,500 from 150 people to support her family.
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