Family of couple who drowned in front of their children speak about the heartbreaking incident

The relatives of a couple who drowned while on holiday in front of their children have expressed their condolences following the couple’s tragic deaths, describing the horrific ordeal as a “bad dream”.

Brian Warter and Erica Wishart were vacationing with their six children on Hutchinson Island in Stuart, Florida when the tragedy occurred.

The couple were swimming in the sea when they were swept out to sea by a strong surf current.

Although they were pulled from the water by rescue workers, they were later pronounced dead in hospital.

Brian, 51, and Erica, 48, had been together for over a year and had been planning the vacation for over a month.

The family announced that this would be the first time the couple would bring all of their children together in an apartment owned by Brian’s parents.

Erica was a mother of four children, Brian had two, and the two were looking forward to being able to spend time together as a family again soon.

Now Brian and Erica’s relatives have paid their last respects to the couple.

Brian’s father, Larry Warter, told CBS12 News, “I keep wanting to wake up from a bad dream.”

Relatives have paid tribute to the couple. (Walters family)

He added: “We’re actually still deaf to it. It’s slowly catching on.”

Larry further described how much the family was looking forward to the trip.

“They were so excited that they could hardly imagine the descent,” he said.

“It was the first time. It was an experiment. They had all six children together. They had been planning it for over a month.”

Larry described how excited the couple was to build a future together.

He said: “He (Brian) had proposed to her. They were waiting for their children to finish college.”

Describing the love between Brian and Erica, Larry added, “It was obvious when you were around them.”

Brian’s mother Susie described the couple as a “perfect couple”, saying: “(Erica) said how much she loved Brian, what a great guy and what a perfect couple they were.”

The family was on vacation in Florida. (6abc Philadelphia / YouTube)

Larry went on to thank the community for their support, saying, “We were overwhelmed by the offers of help and everything else. We thought we were going to have to go through this alone, but that wasn’t the case.”

Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy John Budensiek told WPTV that one of the children tried to yell at the couple to swim parallel to shore.

This is because the surf currents can be narrow and therefore you may be able to get out of the current if you swim parallel to the shore.

In a press release, the sheriff’s office said they helped the six children until their family members arrived.

The statement said: “Martin County Ocean Rescue located the victims and began CPR on shore. These life-saving efforts continued in the ambulance and at the hospital, where doctors made their final effort before pronouncing the couple dead.”

“A deputy with the Martin County Sheriff’s Crisis Intervention Team cared for the couple’s children throughout the day and evening while they waited for other family members to arrive in Florida.”

The children, most of whom are teenagers, are now apparently staying with relatives.