An Irish couple have died in a tragic drowning incident while on holiday in South Africa.
Lynette and John Rodgers, who exchanged wedding vows just six days ago, drowned after getting caught in a rip tide while swimming in Plettenberg Bay on Friday.
The family have released this wedding photo of the couple courtesy of Caroline Smyth.
Members of the National Sea Rescue attempted to resuscitate the couple, however they were later pronounced dead at the scene.
Lynette, a 26-year-old NHS physiotherapist from Holywood in Co. Down married John, 28, from Co. Antrim at Ballygally Castle Hotel in Antrim last Saturday.
Lynette sent a Facebook mail to all who attended her wedding from Dublin airport on Monday.
It read: “John and I would like to thank to everyone who joined us on Saturday and for all the well wishes. We greatly appreciate it and had the best day ever. Heading off today so will speak to everyone when we return.”
The couple were swimming at Plettenberg Bay when tragedy struck. A family friend told The Mirror: “It’s such a sorrowful, terrible, devastating day. They were two beautiful people just starting out together and now they’ve gone.
“They were both healthy, both decent swimmers and both very physically fit but the tide was just too much for them.
“In their wedding vows they promised to be by each other’s side in good times and in bad but they could never have imagined this.
“We’re struggling with the shock of the news but we’re grateful that at least they were together when this tragedy unfolded. There is some comfort in the fact that they were both recovered from the water and we will be able to bring them home.”
The couple’s bodies were found separately and police have ruled that they died of accidental drowning.
