London, July 16 (IANS) An elderly man in Britain died while trying to save his drowning teenaged daughter who clambered out to safety.

Michael Payne, 59 and a severe diabetic, noticed that his daughter Zoe was in danger as she and her sister swam with friends in the Thames river. Ignoring his frail health, he leapt into the water but was quickly overcome by the fast current, Daily Express reported.

The accident occurred Thursday evening as Zoe and her sister Marie, 14, were swimming with friends near Cookham Lock in Berkshire county, watched by their mother Sharon Clark and Payne.

Kerrin Smith, a fellow swimmer, who got into difficulties, narrated how Payne's daughter Zoe initially jumped in to help her.

She said: "I got in trouble with the current and Zoe could see that I was struggling and jumped in to help me. She helped me out but started to get swept away in the current. That is when her Dad and two other lads jumped in to help her.

"They managed to pull her to the side but her Dad was still out there and we saw he was really struggling."

Smith said Zoe was dragged out of the river by two friends as she saw her father sink beneath the surface.