A HEARTBROKEN family has paid tribute to their 18-year-old son following his sudden death.

Rory Wai had been working as a part-time lifeguard at Brightlingsea Lido and Valley Farm Caravan Park, Clacton, for the summer while waiting for his A Level results.

On just his second day as a lifeguard at Valley Farm he pulled a young boy out of the water who was shouting for help.

His mum Sally Anderson-Wai said: “Rory was found unconscious in his bed at our Wivenhoe home by his elder brother, William, at about 8.30pm on Tuesday, but William couldn’t wake him.

“He called the ambulance service who spoke to William as he did CPR on his brother until the ambulance arrived.

“We are grateful to the ambulance service who tried to revive him for an hour and to our neighbour Val Hartgrove, who rushed around to help William when we called her.

“We were speaking to William on WhatsApp just before from Greece where I, my husband, Henry, and youngest son, David, are on holiday.

“We’d asked our eldest two sons to come with us on holiday too, but they had decided to stay at home as William was planning to go on holiday later with friends and Rory was saving to go travelling in his gap year before going to university.”

Rory had studied A Levels at Colchester Sixth Form College and had been given conditional offers at five universities.

He had recently paid for his own lifesaving course and bought himself a secondhand motorbike to get to work.

Mrs Anderson-Wai said the former Colne Community School student enjoyed working out at the gym and had been a member of Colchester Rugby Club’s.

She said her son was a hard-working youngster and had worked as a paper delivery boy for the Wivenhoe Newsagents from the age of 13 until it closed earlier this year.

The family are also members of Wivenhoe Canoe and Kayak Club and Rory had joined them litter picking along the River Bank on several occasions. He had also attended St John’s Church, Colchester, with his family.

She added: “I spoke to the paramedic by WhatsApp who told me Rory may have died well before William found him. His blood sugar was low and they suspected he had a heart attack.

“The police have told us they are treating it as a sudden death with no suspicious circumstances.

“Rory was bright and hard working but was no angel, he was like most teenagers and liked to be one of the lads. We are devastated by his death.

“I can’t believe he’s not with us any longer.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were called to reports of a concern for welfare for a man in Wivenhoe by our colleagues in the ambulance service. Sadly, despite the best efforts of paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.”