Father-of-two, who couldn't swim, drowned trying to rescue his beloved dog from the sea

Joanne Wardle and Alex Hardy (right) were walking his pet dog, Fudge, (bottom left) on Hendon Beach in Sunderland when the 32-year-old fell on a slip way. A poor swimmer, Miss Wardle jumped in to save her partner as he struggled against the waves but could not rescue him. She and the dog were taken to safety by RNLI, but Mr Hardy, a father of two, could not be saved. Today Miss Wardle paid tribute to the man, who she described as 'the love of my life'.