'Stay safe by the sea in Scarborough' - message from Andrew McGeown's family on the fourth anniversary of his death

Andrew McGeown dived into the North Sea to try to rescue his Staffordshire Bull Terrier Arnold in February 2015.

The RNLI volunteers crews who braved stormy seas that night were honoured for their efforts to try to save him in some of the worst conditions in living memory.

And, in reference to The Scarborough News’ page 1 photo this week, of a man standing at the water’s edge to take a selfie of himself in front of a huge wave, Andrew’s sister Donna Loveland said people need to appreciate the power of the sea.

“We don’t want another family to go through what we went through,” she said. “It only takes one wave and there are ways of staying out of danger.

“The more we can make people aware of the dangers of the sea, the better. People do forget, but you are not just risking your own life, but several other people’s lives who are called to try to rescue you.”

Video: Coastguard called out to reports of people wave dodging in Scarborough's North BayAndrew was just 32 and worked as a roofer. Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of his death and the family are planning a low-key way of remembering him.

“To mark the anniversary, we will be letting off one firework,” said Donna. “We thought that was a better way to mark the occasion, rather than releasing ballons, because of the issue with plastic.”

Thousands of pounds have been raised for the RNLI as a legacy and Donna said the family are doing all they can to make Scarborough seafront a safer place

“We do as much as we can working closely with the RNLI. My husband and one of my brothers are on the crew and we support them with fund-raising.

“Another legacy is that a lot of life rings have been put in and around South Bay because it came out at Andrew’s inquest that there weren’t enough.

“That will help to prevent loss of life.”