A 12-year-old girl's attempts to save her drowning father on a holiday near Tintagel were described to an inquest this week.
Amy Boda struggled to hold on to 42-year-old Jan Boda after a seaside trip turned to disaster.
"He was quite heavy,'" she said, adding: ' "Another wave came and I could not hold him."
Amy's account of the tragedy was read out at the inquest in Liskeard, Cornwall on Tuesday.
She described in her written statement how her father had jumped into the sea to rescue her after she fell.
Amy, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, survived 40 minutes in the water and was eventually rescued by the crew of the Port Isaac lifeboat.
Her father, a project manager from Mountsorrell, Loughborough, Leicestershire, was airlifted to hospital by a Culdrose helicopter where he was pronounced dead.
Mr Boda and his 43-year-old wife Susan were on holiday in the Tintagel area with Amy and their 10-year-old son Adam when the tragedy happened on June 1.
Coroner Dr Emma Carlyon said Mr Boda drowned and recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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