A GRANDFATHER who died saving two teenage girls from drowning has been awarded a posthumous medal for bravery.

Richard Guest, from Walsall has been awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for his heroics in Tywyn in the summer of 2015.

Another rescuer, Stephen Adams, of Oswestry, who survived the incident, was also given a bravery award.

On Saturday, 4 July, Richard Guest, 74, and his wife were walking along the beach in Tywyn, when they heard screams for help coming from the sea.

Two teenage girls had gone into the sea and had got into difficulty.

Mr Guest noticed thatMr Adams, was walking nearby and had also heard the screams.

Without hesitation, both men quickly entered the sea to try and save the two teenage girls.

The sea was extremely rough – like a “tumbledryer” according to Mr Adams – but the men persisted, and Mr Guest was the first of the two men to reach one of the girls.

He held her out of the water until he was able to hand her to Mr Adams. As they were about to return to shore, the rescued girl told the men that there was another girl in the water.

While Mr Adams helped the girl back to shore, Mr Guest decided to remain behind to search for the other girl who they believed was still in the water.

Neither man was aware that the second girl has managed to make her own way safely back to shore.

Mr Guest spent some time in the very rough sea searching for the other girl and, having taken the girl to safety, Mr Adams returned to where he had left Mr Guest.

He discovered him face down in the water. He checked for a pulse but there was none and, because of the rough conditions, he could not turn Mr Guest over. Realising his own life was in danger, he reluctantly returned to the shore. Mr Guest was later pulled unconscious from the sea by the RNLI and taken to hospital, but he was pronounced dead soon after.

The Queen’s Gallantry Medal is awarded for “exemplary acts of bravery”.

“Both men demonstrated unselfish courage,” according to the 2018 Civilian Gallantry Listings. Neither man knew the two girls yet were willing to risk their own lives to ensure the safety of two strangers.”