Bulgarian-British Hero Died Month Before His Wedding

32-year-old Plamen Petkov who saved a four-year-old British girl but lost his life. This photo was provided by British police with the permission of Petkov's parents

Bulgarian Plamen Petkov, who drowned saving the life of a four-year-old British kid, was planning to tie the knot this summer, residents of Sutton, UK, have revealed.

Petkov, 32, a resident of Sutton, Surrey, UK, perished on May 27, 2012, saving the life of a British girl on the beach at West Wittering, West Sussex.

Bulgarian immigrants, living in Southern UK, who knew Plamen, told 168 Hours weekly he was about to marry his longtime girlfriend, who is believed to have witnessed his tragic death on the beach at West Wittering. The two had scheduled the important event for next month.

It is still not clear whether the 32-year-old Bulgarian will be buried in his native town of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, since his whole family has moved to the southern parts of Great Britain over a period of two decades.

"We knew Plamen very well. We are shocked by this tragedy. He was a very nice guy, educated and had great technical skills. We often called him to help us fix the electricity appliances, the computer or the car," a Bulgarian family living in Surrey told the newspaper.

Petkov has been UK citizen since 2005, according to information released by the UK police authorities, which comes from a statement that his parents made for the British police.

At their request, however, the police said it will release no information about them.

The family however called for new safety measures on UK beaches. In an official statement they said they were "keen to call for additional positive safety measures", such as stationed lifeguards, to avoid similar tragedies in the future.

On the fatal day Petkov was at the beach with his girlfriend, also Bulgarian. He plunged into the water when after they heard the screams of the mother of a four-year-old girl being swept out to sea in an inflatable swim ring.

Even though the beach was crammed with people, it was Petkov who was the first who managed to react. He jumped into the water followed by his girlfriend and another woman. He managed to remove the kid from the inflatable swim ring, and kept her above his head.

However, he was sucked by the underwater current. The man managed to pass the kid to his girlfriend, who attempted to hold on to both him and the child until the arrival of the other woman, witness accounts say.

The second woman managed to bring the child to the shore, while Petkov was pulled out by his girlfriend but was already unconscious by that time.

A medical emergency unit arrived 40 minutes later by helicopter but failed to resuscitate the hero.

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