Former Exeter University student dies after being washed into caves

A former Exeter University student has died taking part in the extreme sport of 'coasteering'.

Charlotte “Buffy” Furness-Smith, 30, was with her 31-year-old brother Alex when she was washed into caves at a Dorset beauty spot.

Rescuers spent two hours talking to her but were unable to get to her. Her body could not be recovered because of severe weather and emergency teams are still waiting to recover it.

Her parents, Patricia, 57, and Charles, 58, from Amersham in Buckinghamshire, said they were “shocked and deeply upset” by the news, confirming to the Evening Standard in a statement “the devastating loss of [their] daughter Buffy, who drowned off the Dorset coast in the afternoon of Saturday 2 November”.

Ms Furness-Smith was born in the Caribbean before her parents moved to the UK when she was a child. She joined the Royal Navy Reserves at Exeter University where she graduated in engineering before going on to qualify as a maths teacher.

She was part of the Navy’s recruitment team and volunteered to serve in the second Gulf war in 2008.

Coasteering is a physical activity that encompasses movement along the intertidal zone of a rocky coastline on foot or by swimming, without the aid of boats, surf boards or other craft.