A 53-year-old tourist collapsed and died despite the frantic efforts of a doctor and police officer. Yesterday afternoon the man was seen sitting at the edge of the water at John Smith’s Bay, in Smith’s, at about 2.25 p.m., before he collapsed backwards.

It was witnessed by Scott Nicholls, an ex-police officer, and his family who are in Bermuda visiting his sister-in-law, a speech therapist on the Island.

When the man fell, Mr. Nicholls with the help of two other men, managed to pull him back from the water. Then Mr. Nicholls and a doctor on the beach began CPR.

He said: “A doctor who is from the hospital was doing the CPR and I was working with the defibrillator. I’m an ex-cop so I have some training with these devices.”

Mr. Nicholls’ wife, Jayce, said she thought the man had been swimming for about half an hour before he started feeling sick and came back onto the beach.

“He was snorkeling for about half an hour and his family, I think, was sitting over by the rocks, but he came and just plopped down in front of us,” she said. “It was all very shocking and terrible.”

After performing CPR and using the defibrillators for a few minutes, Mr. Nicholls said four Police cars and an ambulance arrived on the scene.

A Police spokesman said the 53-year-old visitor was rushed to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and was pronounced dead at 3.08 p.m. by an on call physician.

The Nicholls’ family praised the response by Emergency Services, but were upset by what they perceived as a lack of interest and training on behalf of the lifeguards. “That was quite a response with four Police cars and an ambulance. They came so quickly, basically when the lifeguards got there,” Mrs. Nicholls’ added.

“We were waving on the lifeguards and they just gave a sign saying one minute and then had to put on their t-shirts before they came down to the beach. And then they didn’t know how to use a defibrillator.”

Thoughts of the few left on the beach, however, remained on the family of the deceased saying how sorry they were for the family’s loss.

“We feel very sorry for the family. Our hearts go out to them,” said Martha Hoehn, Scott Nicholl’s mother-in-law.

The Police spokesman added that the next of kin had not been notified so no further information could be given at the time of going to the press.