A close friend of a kite-surfer Mark Paxton, who died in St Osyth on Sunday, has paid tribute to the father-of-one.

East Anglian Daily Times: A beach in Point Clear where a kite surfer died on Sunday.A beach in Point Clear where a kite surfer died on Sunday.

Mr Paxton, who was in his 40s, died despite an hour-long battle to save his life after he collided with a sea wall at a beach in Point Clear. He leaves behind his wife and son.

Tony McSpadden, who was with Mr Paxton at the time, described his friend as a “brilliant kite-surfer.”

“He was a very good friend and this is an awful time for everyone. He was only in his 40s,” said Mr McSpadden.

“Mark was a very experienced, brilliant kite-surfer. The right equipment was used and it really was just a very unfortunate accident.

“He had enjoyed the sport for many, many years – I personally have been surfing since 2002.”

At the time, the East of England Ambulance service said Mr Paxton had suffered “traumatic injuries.”

“The patient was conscious and breathing, but sadly his condition deteriorated and he went into cardiac arrest and went unconscious and wasn’t breathing,” said a spokesman, who said he could not be resuscitated.

A rapid response vehicle, road ambulance and air ambulance were all sent to Ray Creek, a stretch of beach that sits between Lee-over-Sands and Point Clear.

Crews were joined by the Clacton RNLI, as well as Walton and Clacton Coastguards.

David Ursell, a senior instructor, runs the Clacton based PUSH kite-surfing school.

“It was an unfortunate and very rare accident,” he said. “The whole kite-surfing community is going to be reeling from this news.”

“Even people who don’t know him are quite upset today. It’s a sport where you can be extremely safe and it’s only on rare occasions like this that something might happen.”

Tributes to the kite-surfer were posted to Kiteboarder, a forum for fans of the water sport. One user, Anthony Langden, described Mr Paxton as “a nice guy with a great passion for kiting.”