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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Aug 13, 2009
HOLIDAY TRAGEDIES
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Swept off by freak wave <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kimberly Spykerman
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Ms Vanessa Kwek at husband Douglas Lee's wake at their home near Upper Changi Road yesterday. She described him as a perfect dad who 'lived life to the fullest'. -- ST PHOTOS: DESMOND LIM
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<DIV class=clear></DIV><DIV class=border_dbl2_bn></DIV><DIV class=clear></DIV><DIV class=marginb5></DIV><!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><DIV class=story_text>BUSINESSMAN Douglas Lee loved going on beach holidays with his wife, and headed to Bali almost annually for a good dose of sun, sea and sand.
But this year's holiday did not end in smiles, after the 39-year-old died when he was swept out to sea by a freak wave. Mr Lee and his wife, Ms Vanessa Kwek, 28, were part of a group of 10 friends who left Singapore last Thursday for the resort island.
On Sunday, the group had just finished lunch at a restaurant on Bali's popular Seminyak Beach when Mr Lee and two friends decided to go for a dip in the sea.
'The water was ok, it wasn't rough at all when we went in...and we thought well, that's the place to be,' said Mr Michel Oosterhof, 42, a friend who was with Mr Lee at the time. It was the first time all three had been to that beach.
They were in waist-deep water for about 10 minutes when they were hit by a huge wave, which swept them approximately 200m beyond the breaking waves out into the open sea.
They suddenly found themselves in very calm water, and separated from one another. The men then tried to swim to shore but after a few strokes, Mr Lee suddenly stopped swimming and looked tired.
It was then that Mr Oosterhof decided to go look for help on his own while the third man, Mr Arnaud Ferrand, 35, stayed with Mr Lee and tried to keep him afloat.
Mr Oosterhof managed to attract the attention of a lifeguard who swam out to him with a lifeboard. He then directed the guard in the direction of his two friends. Two more lifeguards joined them.
The guard took Mr Lee back to the beach on the lifeboard. By the time his friends reached the shore, Mr Lee was receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation from a lifeguard. 'He had been conscious and talking at first...we thought he would be okay,' said Mr Oosterhof.
Mr Lee was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. His body was flown home on Tuesday afternoon.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
</DIV>
HOLIDAY TRAGEDIES
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Swept off by freak wave <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kimberly Spykerman
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Ms Vanessa Kwek at husband Douglas Lee's wake at their home near Upper Changi Road yesterday. She described him as a perfect dad who 'lived life to the fullest'. -- ST PHOTOS: DESMOND LIM
</TD></TR><!--<tr><td>
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<DIV class=border_dbl2_bn></DIV><TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD><DIV class=vclearleft>
<DIV class=clear></DIV><DIV class=border_dbl2_bn></DIV><DIV class=clear></DIV><DIV class=marginb5></DIV><!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><DIV class=story_text>BUSINESSMAN Douglas Lee loved going on beach holidays with his wife, and headed to Bali almost annually for a good dose of sun, sea and sand.
But this year's holiday did not end in smiles, after the 39-year-old died when he was swept out to sea by a freak wave. Mr Lee and his wife, Ms Vanessa Kwek, 28, were part of a group of 10 friends who left Singapore last Thursday for the resort island.
On Sunday, the group had just finished lunch at a restaurant on Bali's popular Seminyak Beach when Mr Lee and two friends decided to go for a dip in the sea.
'The water was ok, it wasn't rough at all when we went in...and we thought well, that's the place to be,' said Mr Michel Oosterhof, 42, a friend who was with Mr Lee at the time. It was the first time all three had been to that beach.
They were in waist-deep water for about 10 minutes when they were hit by a huge wave, which swept them approximately 200m beyond the breaking waves out into the open sea.
They suddenly found themselves in very calm water, and separated from one another. The men then tried to swim to shore but after a few strokes, Mr Lee suddenly stopped swimming and looked tired.
It was then that Mr Oosterhof decided to go look for help on his own while the third man, Mr Arnaud Ferrand, 35, stayed with Mr Lee and tried to keep him afloat.
Mr Oosterhof managed to attract the attention of a lifeguard who swam out to him with a lifeboard. He then directed the guard in the direction of his two friends. Two more lifeguards joined them.
The guard took Mr Lee back to the beach on the lifeboard. By the time his friends reached the shore, Mr Lee was receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation from a lifeguard. 'He had been conscious and talking at first...we thought he would be okay,' said Mr Oosterhof.
Mr Lee was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. His body was flown home on Tuesday afternoon.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
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