Photos: UAE-based hero British father, Trevor Pelling dies saving his 2 daughters at a beach in Portugal

A 'hero' British father died yesterday trying to save his two daughters off a Portuguese beach after they got into difficulty in the sea.

Trevor Pelling, 45, a financial consultant, was trying to aid his two daughters aged 12 and nine when they got into difficulties because of the strong current at Calada Beach in Encarnacao - about an hour’s drive north-west of Lisbon. 

He was already suffering cardiac arrest when he was pulled out of the ocean by surfers just after 2pm on Thursday. Locals and a nurse who was on the beach spent nearly an hour trying to save him before he was pronounced dead. There were no lifeguards on the beach as it is early in the season and the lifeguard service starts on June 12. 

Mr Pelling was a British financial specialist who was on holiday with his family and is currently based in the Middle East for work reasons. 

He described himself on LinkedIn as an Abu Dhabi-based area manager at deVere Acuma, part of one of the world’s leading independent financial advisory organisations. 

The British holidaymaker was trying to aid his two daughters aged 12 and nine when they got into difficulties because of the strong current. They were later taken to Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon for a medical examination. 

A psychologist is assisting the grief-stricken youngsters and their mum, who has not been named. 

Paulo Agostinho, Cascais Maritime Police chief added: 

'The whole family were on the beach, the father, mother and their two daughters. 'It was a beach that didn’t have any lifeguards on it because the lifeguard service doesn’t start till June 12. 'The two girls got into difficulties and their father tried to save them. He managed to get them to safety but he got into difficulties himself and sadly ended up dying after being pulled out of the water by two surfers. 'I don’t know if he was unable to swim or couldn’t swim well. 

'The girls were taken to Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon with their mum. My understanding is they have now been released from hospital.' 

'Upon arrival at the site they found a man had been pulled out of the water by two surfers, he had gone into cardiac arrest and a nurse who was at the scene had begun to perform life-saving techniques which were then continued by the firefighters. 

'Despite their attempts to resuscitate him, it was not possible to reverse the situation and he was declared dead at the scene. 'The body of the dead man, who was of foreign nationality, was later transported by the volunteer firefighters to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Torres Vedras. 

'The two children were taken by ambulance to Lisbon’s Santa Maria Hospital, in a stable situation, accompanied by their mother. 

A source close to the case added: 'The family were on holiday here but I don’t know if they were staying near the beach or further afield.

Real hero dad he was! 

May his soul RIP!!