- Susan Taylor got into 'serious difficulties' as she approached finish point
- Donations to charities has now reached more than £50k since her death
- Fund helped by David Walliams who tweeted link to his 1.2m followers
- Comedian, who swam Channel in 2006, believed to have donated £1k
- Mrs Taylor's husband Stephen was part of team on his wife's support boat
- Her paramedic brother David pulled her from water and tried to revive her
- Mrs Taylor's father says: 'I've lost the most wonderful person in the world'
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Tragic: Donations to Susan Taylor's chosen
charities have reached £50,000 since she died trying to swim the English
Channel
Susan Taylor, 34, collapsed just one mile from the French coast as she swam under the guidance of the Channel Swimming Association, which officially authorises attempts, on Sunday.
Her paramedic brother David and husband Stephen were on board a support boat and battled to save her life but she was pronounced dead at hospital in nearby Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Thousands of people have since donated money to the charities, Rainbows Hospice and Diabetes UK, Mrs Taylor was raising money for.
The money was boosted when comedian David Walliams - who swam the Channel in 2006 - tweeted the links to the charities to his 1.2million followers.
He is believed to have pledged £1,000 after a donation was made under the name of the Little Britain star with the message 'Sending all my love to Susan's family and friends'.
Walliams tweeted later: 'Despite the shock & sadness, it's good to see heroic Susan Taylor's charity total rising. Please give what you can...'
The star also tweeted a link to Mrs Taylor's Facebook page Create A Ripple Channel Swim, writing: 'Susan Taylor's channel swim attempt very sadly ended in tragedy. This is her charity page if you want to donate...'
Mrs Taylor had reportedly written in a blog post her ambition to follow in Walliams' footsteps by swimming the Channel.
'I've had an ambition to follow in comedian David Walliams's strokes and swim the Channel since I was a child,' she wrote.
Scroll down for video and to donate to the charity yourself
Devastated: Susan Taylor's husband Stephen
(pictured at a Christmas party) was on the support boat
Brave: Mrs Taylor, 34, wanted to emulate David Walliams' charity swim
but died one mile from France 
Fundraiser: David Walliams, pictured during his
2006 Channel swim, is believed to have donated £1,000
And she said her 40-year-old son David felt guilty about being unable to save his sister’s life on the boat.
‘Our son is a paramedic so he’d taken kit with him. He’s devastated. He’s blaming himself,’ added the 68-year-old.
‘But he did everything he could. He just needs to have a big cuddle when he gets back.
Mrs Taylor had spent 18 months preparing for her arduous challenge in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
She even quit her job as an accountant to train full time.
Much-loved: Susan's father described her as 'the
best person in the world'
Dedicated: Mrs Taylor had spent 18 months
preparing for her arduous challenge for two charities
Prepared: Mrs Taylor's progress team posted this
picture during her swim, writing: 'Easy way versus the hard way!!!!!
Susan definitely deserves the easy way next time!!! She's doing fab :)'
She set off from Dover at 1am on
Sunday covered in goose fat and with her brother and her husband,
43-year-old electrician Stephen, in the support boat.
Friends and family had watched her progress online through a link to a GPS device that tracked her for 16 hours and 20 miles.
But they became concerned when they noticed her position marker stopped for several minutes before racing off in the direction of Boulogne.
Her brother then posted the message: ‘Whilst attempting to swim the English Channel yesterday my sister, Susan, collapsed suddenly in the water.
‘She was immediately recovered from the water and treated on the support boat.
'She
was then airlifted by
helicopter to a hospital in Boulogne. Susan tragically passed away.’
Huart Alexandre, 22, a French lifeguard who responded to the emergency call, said: ‘We performed CPR for 45 minutes but she still wasn’t breathing.
‘Her husband had gone below the deck because he couldn’t bear to watch what was happening. He wanted to be alone.’
Mr Wright urged donors to carry on giving to his sister’s fundraising page.
Last night, Mr Taylor, who helped his wife train in lakes near their home in Barwell, Leicestershire, was in France as preparations were made to carry out a post-mortem to determine the cause of death.
Mrs Wright said: ‘Susan was struggling with the currents and the tide.
'She was obviously tired. She collapsed in the water.
‘The hardest bit is the last bit and she knows that. She was about two kilometres from France and was battling against the tide.
'We know Susan wouldn’t have got out of the water, she wouldn’t give up.’
Friends and family had watched her progress online through a link to a GPS device that tracked her for 16 hours and 20 miles.
But they became concerned when they noticed her position marker stopped for several minutes before racing off in the direction of Boulogne.
Her brother then posted the message: ‘Whilst attempting to swim the English Channel yesterday my sister, Susan, collapsed suddenly in the water.
‘She was immediately recovered from the water and treated on the support boat.
Fundraiser: Mrs Taylor had temporarily given up
work to train for the swim
Huart Alexandre, 22, a French lifeguard who responded to the emergency call, said: ‘We performed CPR for 45 minutes but she still wasn’t breathing.
‘Her husband had gone below the deck because he couldn’t bear to watch what was happening. He wanted to be alone.’
Mr Wright urged donors to carry on giving to his sister’s fundraising page.
Last night, Mr Taylor, who helped his wife train in lakes near their home in Barwell, Leicestershire, was in France as preparations were made to carry out a post-mortem to determine the cause of death.
Mrs Wright said: ‘Susan was struggling with the currents and the tide.
'She was obviously tired. She collapsed in the water.
‘The hardest bit is the last bit and she knows that. She was about two kilometres from France and was battling against the tide.
'We know Susan wouldn’t have got out of the water, she wouldn’t give up.’
An online map tracking Ms Taylor's progress
appeared to show that her support boat had suddenly sped up and sailed
in a different direction towards land
Tragedy on Facebook
Mrs Taylor was initially rescued from Wissant
Bay near Cap Gris-Nez on the French coast
Lifeguards: Huart Alexandre, 22, left and Giolet
Rudolph, 35, right, went to Susan's aid and performed CPR
Her parents said she had swum a relay in Windermere four months ago and a Channel relay last year in training.
On an online blog, Mrs Taylor had written: ‘I’ve had an ambition to follow in comedian David Walliams’s strokes and swim the Channel since I was a child.
‘This is a dream I have cherished since I was a club swimmer, growing up in Barwell.’
France does not allow cross-Channel swims to start from its own side because of the dangers posed by shipping, as well as dangerous currents and changing weather conditions.
Mrs Taylor is the eighth swimmer to die since Captain Matthew Webb made the first unassisted swim across the Strait of Dover in 1875.
The last fatality was 45-year-old Paraic Casey, of Cork, Ireland, who died last July.
Like Mrs Taylor, he became ill a mile from the French coast.
Susan Taylor was raising money for Rainbows Childrens' Home in Loughborough. You can donate on Susan's fundraising page by clicking here
She was also raising money for Diabetes UK. You can donate money to them through their website by clicking here
Tributes: Neighbours at the Taylor family home
in Barwell, Leicestershire, paid tribute to a 'truly lovely girl'
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