Rugby legend Scott Hastings' wife 'presumed dead' after going missing while swimming in Edinburgh's Wardie Bay
Scotland rugby legend Scott Hastings has said his wife Jenny is presumed dead, having gone missing after she went swimming at Edinburgh’s Wardie Bay.
A major search was launched by emergency services on Tuesday afternoon after a female swimmer was reported missing, but no-one was found and the search was stood down.
In a statement tonight, the Hastings family said they were “absolutely heartbroken”. Jenny Hastings, 60, had struggled for years with depression and police were treating her disappearance as a “high risk missing persons case”.
The statement said: “As many of you know Jenny struggled with her mental health for a number of years and ultimately she was unable to cope on this occasion.
“It appears that she wished to end her suffering in what was a regular and healing place for her. She loved the water but unfortunately her mind was not in a place of safety.
“The Hastings family are absolutely heartbroken. We miss our Jenny. She leaves a gaping hole in all our hearts and hope that she is returned to us safely so that we can celebrate her remarkable life.”
In 2017, Jenny Hastings went missing for 24 hours and eventually found her way to the safety of a police station where officers revealed she'd spent almost two days in the Pentland Hills on the edge of the Capital. In 2014, she had attempted to take her own life but was saved by Scott.
During the Covid pandemic, Scott, Jenny and their daughter, Kerry-Anne organised and took part in open-air dance exercise sessions in their street in the Warriston area of the Capital to maintain people’s emotional and physical health.
They also helped launch the 100 Streets Challenge to help people boost their mental health through exercise
Scott Hastings is seen as one of Scotland’s greatest ever rugby players. He earned 65 caps for the Scotland national side, which, by the time of his retirement made him the country's most-capped player ever. And he captained Scotland on 20 occasions including at the 1995 World Cup.
Tuesday’s search operation came afer reports that a female swimmer had gone missing shortly after 3pm while swimming in the Firth of Forth. HM Coastguard, police and a search and rescue helicopter were involved in the search and RNLI crews from Kinghorn, Queensferry and Anstruther also attended.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the search was stood down at 8.20pm on 3 September with nothing found.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Our enquiries are ongoing.”