Incident Report: Agnes Proudhon-Smith
Feb 13, 2022Homepage > Incident Report > Coastal Waters
On Wednesday, 20 March 2019, at around 07:40, Agnes Proudhon-Smith (50 years old), a celebrated wildlife photographer, was swept out to sea by a freak wave whilst on holiday on the Isle of Harris in Scotland.
Following a risk assessment of the site by the guide, she set up her camera on a rocky promontory together with the guide and the two other members of the group (Surrey Comet, 2020). The photography group had gone onto the rocks in the Nisabost area to photograph the waves crashing onto the rocks. Ms Proudhon-Smith was perched on the rocks taking photographs with a small group of friends shortly before she was swept into the sea.
A call to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency was received at 07:42 (The Herald, 2020). The Coastguard sent the Stornoway-based rescue helicopter, teams from Scalpay, Tarbert and Stornoway, and the Leverburgh RNLI lifeboat.
Ms Proudhon-Smith was recovered from the beach at 08:22 by a coastguard rescue helicopter which transported Ms Proudhon-Smith to the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway. She was pronounced dead at 09:07 (Aiken, 2019; The Herald, 2020).
Councillor Paul Finnegan, a member of the local coastguard team, said (Jeffay, 2019):
The lady was a tourist who had been taking photographs from rocks and she was hit by waves and knocked into the water. She was with a small group of people who were with her at the time but couldn’t do anything to help her.
It was quite breezy at the time and there was a natural swell in the sea. It is just terrible, absolutely awful and the second tragedy in recent years. This shows the dangers of the sea and how it can catch you out.
Speaking at her inquest at West London Coroners Court, Coroner Dr Sean Cummings said (The Herald, 2020):
She was on a photographic trip to the outer Hebrides on the morning of March 20, 2019, and she and members of the trip were setting up equipment on rocks on a beach in Harris.
A surge of water reportedly shot up in front of them and this dragged her into the sea. At about 8.15am on the same day, a body was discovered on Nisabost Beach just below the high water mark. She was conveyed to the Western Isles Hospital and at 9.07am life was pronounced extinct.
A full post mortem examination was carried out and the medical cause of death given was drowning.
Agnes won a number of photography awards through the years, building up to her being in the finals of the National Geographic Traveller UK competition. At the beginning of March, she gained a distinction from the Royal Photographic Society for a series of images she took in Valencia and in last year's Outdoor Photographer of the Year competition, she had 11 images shortlisted in the Spirit of Travel category.
References (17)
Note: I wish those affected all the best in their future. No part of this article purports to attribute blame. See our methodology page for further details of how these case summaries are constructed.
Aiken, G. (2019). Police name Outer Hebrides tourist who died after being swept out to sea. (The Press and Journal, 21st March, 16:59). Available at: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands-islands/1705312/police-name-outer-hebrides-tourist-who-died-after-being-swept-out-to-sea/ accessed 16th January 2022.
Barrie, D. (2019). Woman who died after getting into difficulty in water named by police. (Press Association, 21st March). Available at: (link) accessed 16th January 2022.
BBC News. (2019). Woman dies after being swept into the sea at Nisabost in Harris. (20th March). Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-47638929 accessed 16th January 2022.
BBC News. (2019). Woman who died after being swept into the sea in Harris named. (21st March). Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-47659444 accessed 16th January 2022.
Fleming, E. (2019). Tributes paid to amazingly talented Esher photographer following death on Scottish beach. (Surrey Live, 22nd March, 08:14). Available at: https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/tributes-paid-amazingly-talented-esher-16011364 accessed 16th January 2022.
Fleming, E. and Mills, K. (2019). Talented photographer died after being swept into sea on shoot at Scottish beach. (Mirror, 22nd March, 16:22). Available at: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/talented-photographer-died-after-being-14171831 accessed 16th January 2022.
Guernsey Press. (2019). Woman who died after getting into difficulty in water named by police. (21st March). Available at: https://guernseypress.com/news/uk-news/2019/03/21/woman-who-died-after-getting-into-difficulty-in-water-named-by-police/ accessed 16th March 2022.
Jeffay, J. (2019). English tourist swept to her death taking pics from rocks on Harris beach as companions watched on in horror named and pictured for first time. (21st March, 17:09; first published 21st March, 17:04). Available at: https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/4024174/english-tourist-harris-death-sea-emergency-rescue-helicopter-agnes-proudhon-smith/ accessed 16th January 2022.
Jeffay, J. (2019). Woman, 50, swept to her death taking photos from rocks on Scottish beach in 50mph winds as pals watched in horror. (The Sun, 21st March, 17:43; first published 21st March, 17:33). Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8687435/english-woman-50-swept-to-her-death-taking-photos-from-rocks-on-scottish-beach-in-50mph-winds-as-pals-watched-in-horror/ accessed 16th January 2022.
Lyst, C. (2019). Photographer’s son pays tribute after her death in Harris. (BBC News, 29th March). Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-47747836 accessed 16th January 2022.
McCann, D. (2019). Tributes to mother swept to her death on beach. (The Sunday Times, 30th March, 00:01). Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tributes-to-mother-swept-to-her-death-on-beach-2fr6hlzrr accessed 16th January 2022.
Merritt, M. (2019). Photographer swept to her death on beach is named. (The Sunday Times, 22nd March, 00:01). Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/photographer-swept-to-her-death-on-beach-is-named-67ppfcmm6 accessed 16th January 2022.
Munro, A. (2019). Harris tragedy. Woman was taking photographs when waves swept her into the sea. (21st March, 06:10). Available at: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/1704212/harris-tragedy-as-tourist-swept-to-her-death-in-sea/ accessed 16th January 2022.
Munro, A. (2019). Tragic Harris tourist swept death named as professional photographer. (The Press and Journal, 22nd March, 07:31). Available at: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/1705307/tragic-harris-tourist-swept-death-named-as-professional-photographer/ accessed 16th January 2022.
Surrey Comet. (2020). Esher photographer was swept to her death by a freak wave during trip to Scotland. (11th February). Available at: https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/18226314.esher-photographer-swept-death-freak-wave-trip-scotland/ accessed 16th January 2022.
The Herald. (2020). French photographer swept out to sea in freak wave on Scottish beach. (10th February). Available at: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18224378.french-photographer-swept-sea-freak-wave-scottish-beach/ accessed 16th January 2022.
The Scotsman. (2020). Award-winning photographer was swept to her death in freak wave during trip to Scotland. (10th February, 12:56). Available at: https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/award-winning-photographer-was-swept-her-death-freak-wave-during-trip-scotland-1555455 accessed 16th January 2022.
Citation: Jacklin, D. 2022. Case Summary: Agnes Proudhon-Smith. Water Incident Research Hub, 13 February.
