On Friday morning floral tributes have been left for a missing swimmer. On Thursday evening the Hastings family confirmed it was Jenny Hastings who had gone missing on Tuesday while swimming in Wardie Bay.
Mrs Hastings is the wife of Scottish rugby legend, Scott. She has been reported missing on previous occasions, and had openly admitted she suffered from poor mental health.
Since Tuesday there had been no news after crews from the coastguard service who stood down on Tuesday evening. Police are now treating this as a “high-risk missing persons case” but confirm that “enquiries are continuing”.
In a statement the Hastings family said they were “absolutely heartbroken” at the news, adding that Jenny had “struggled with her mental health for a number of years”.
The statement read: “It’s with huge sadness that we write to advise you that Jenny went for a swim in the Firth of Forth on the afternoon of Tuesday September 3 2024, and that the incident is being treated by the police as a high risk missing person case.
“The Hastings family are absolutely heartbroken.
“Jenny and Scott have a huge following of friends from all walks of life including those that work in the media and we ask that at this moment in time we are allowed to grieve privately with family members.”
“For the time being we request that you hold off from messaging us directly and/or posting on any social media until further news.
“We know that you all care for us deeply and as soon as we hear any update from the police we will advise you accordingly.
“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.”
The statement is signed “Scott, Corey, Daniel, Kerry-Anne & Ian”.
Jenny was the childhood sweetheart of Scott and the couple are well known in the capital as ambassadors for the charity Change Mental Health. The couple fronted the charity campaign, the 100 Streets Challenge encouraging others to choose a time to run, cycle or walk 100 streets to raise mental health awareness for the national mental health charity, which was then called Support in Mind Scotland.
A former pupil at George Watson’s College, Scott is the third of four rugby playing brothers – Graeme, Gavin, Scott and Ewan. He was the former Scottish rugby cap record holder at the time of his retiral and toured twice with the British and Irish Lions.
Scott captained Edinburgh in their first venture into European Cup rugby against Bath in 1997. He forged a post-playing career in rugby commentary.
In recent years Scott was diagnosed with non Hodgkinsons lymphoma but after chemotherapy treatment he announced the cancer was in remission.
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