A fund-raiser drowned after saving the life of a baby during a river trip in a dugout canoe in Ecuador, an inquest heard today.

Divorcee Sharron Poulton, 38, from Eastbourne, did not resurface from the waters of the Rio Napo after handing over the baby during the accident in October last year.

Ms Poulton - who was in Ecuador with a group taking part in a charity cycling event - was seen holding a child above the water after one of the group's canoes hit turbulent water and capsized.

Jonathan Bryan, of Salisbury-based Discover Adventure, was in another canoe. He and other group members got out of the boat and many people tried to help from the bank, he said.

He continued: "We were probably 15 metres away from Sharron and a number of others and we formed a human chain.

"I remember seeing Sharron holding a small baby in her arms as she was being moved about by water, very calm.

"She appeared very, very relaxed. She was very close to us and out of reach unfortunately.

"The last thing I saw was Sharron holding a baby looking very relaxed. I looked to my left and looked back and she was no longer there.

"Sharron got drawn under water by one of the whirlpools."

Ms Poulton's body was found a day-and-a-half later some 30km downstream, partially-clothed and without the life-jacket she had been wearing.

Mr Bryan said that when organising the itinerary he had not known there had been any similar incidents, and only later found out there had been a fatal incident several years before.

Paul Rossi, of London-based Macmillan Cancer Relief, told the court it was the first time the charity had taken part in a challenge in Ecuador.

Recording the verdict of accidental death, coroner Alan Craze told the court: "Sharron appears to have behaved with commendable calmness and cool and played a major part in the recovery of a very small one or two-year-old child."

He added: "If it had been the pilot or boatman that had died, I believe the proper verdict would have been misadventure because there must have been a risk taking canoes down this river.

"It is described on some occasions as being torrential.

"In a way it is fairly surprising indeed that only one person did lose her life."