The wife of a football club chairman has been killed in a horrific jet ski accident while on holiday in Spain.
Debra Wright, 43, whose husband Chris is chairman of Ashton Town FC, died instantly on Saturday evening when the jet ski she was riding was hit by a speedboat off the Costa del Sol.
It happened around 7.25pm at Los Toros beach, just west of the popular Brit holiday resort of Estepona.
Spanish police sources said the speedboat was being driven by a friend who failed a breath test after the collision. The man appeared in court yesterday on suspicion of manslaughter alongside an alcohol-related offence.
Ashton Town FC wrote in emotional statement: “It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that on behalf of Ashton Town FC we announce the tragic death of Debra Wright, wife of Chris our Chairman who was tragically killed whilst on holiday in Spain on Saturday evening.
“Our family are in mourning at this sad time and we ask for time for Chris and his family and everyone at the club to be able to start to come to terms with this tragedy.
“RIP Debra, fly high sweetheart.”
The Greater Manchester club play in the North West Counties League Division One North. They’re the ones with that famous £6.50 bacon double cheeseburger that went viral on social media last year – got 3.2 million views on Twitter.
Chris Wright only took over as chairman last season after his recruitment business sponsored the club. He had big plans to boost attendances from 65 to 500 per game.
A well-placed police source said: “The jet ski was being driven by her partner. They appear to have been hit from behind by a friend at the wheel of a speedboat.
“He failed a breath test after the collision, so he’s likely to have been arrested but that is not something I can confirm at this stage.”
The couple were on holiday in the area.
Witnesses raised the alarm about the collision between the jet ski and motorboat. A spokesman for regional government-run emergency response coordination centre said: “A woman died late on Saturday in the town of Manilva in Malaga in a collision between a jet ski and a motorboat.
“The nautical accident occurred on Los Toros beach at around 19:25 hours, when several witnesses alerted the coordination centre of a collision between a jet ski and a speedboat.”
Civil Guard confirmed: “I can confirm the dead woman is a 43-year-old British national. She was a passenger on the jet ski.”
Coastguards mobilised a boat called Gadir and emergency medical responders raced to the beach, but nothing could be done to save Debra.
The Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who died in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.
Last August, a 32-year-old French tourist was killed while riding a jet ski off Fuengirola when he hit a wave and struck his head on the handlebars. Just weeks earlier, a woman named Marina, also 32, died after a jet ski accident in El Palo. Emergency workers battled for more than 40 minutes to revive her but she later died from internal bleeding.
Manilva sits on the Costa del Sol near the border with Cádiz province, about 20 minutes drive from Estepona. Popular with British tourists and expats.
Since taking charge at Ashton, Wright had transformed the club. Half of the 16 committee members are entrepreneurs who wanted to create a different dynamic for non-league football. Average attendances have risen from 65 to 225 this season.
