TRIBUTES have been paid to a woman who died after trying to rescue her dog from the sea.

Suzannah Conway got into difficulties after going into the water in Peacehaven.

Paramedics, the coastguard helicopter and the RNLI lifeboat

volunteers were called to try to save her.

But the 49-year-old, known as Suzi, died after being taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

She had been out walking with her dog Myrtle off the shores of South Coast Road in Peacehaven on July 30.

The Argus previously reported that she was pulled from the sea by a passer-by after going in to try to rescue her dog.

She had helped animal rescue charities herself and friends and loved ones left comments on the Facebook page of one of them.

The Paws In Our Hands page wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the death of a good friend, Suzi Conway, and her beloved dog Myrtle.

“Suzi did our calendar and has helped out in so many other ways. Suzi died after going into the sea after Myrtle had fallen in and got into difficulty.

“Unfortunately neither survived.

“Suzi died as she lived, rescuing dogs in need. She will be very much missed.”

Suzi’s funeral was held last week, and an inquest into the circumstances of her death was opened in Brighton earlier this month by Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley.

News of Suzi’s death has caused shock.

One woman said: “Heart shattering. What a brave, beautiful, instinctual human being, faithful to her beloved fur child, as they are to us.

“I pray they’re thriving together and free, in true love, in a dimension where nothing can ever hurt them.”

Others said Suzi “adored” her dog Myrtle while others said she had shown “true devotion” to the dog in a bid to save her.

One person said: “Heartbreaking news, she was a wonderful woman who loved animals so much.

“A loss to the rescue world.”

The police said: “A woman who had been pulled from the sea off South Coast Road, Peacehaven, at

about 6pm on Tuesday (July 28) has sadly died.

“The woman was initially treated by paramedics at the scene and was then taken by ambulance to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

“Her next of kin have been informed and the death has been referred to the Brighton and Hove Coroner.”

A full inquest into Suzi’s death is set to take place at Brighton Coroner’s Court on November 24.