It was instinct that made Sandro Cascun jump off a cliff and into the sea at Wied Iż-Żurrieq after the photographer taking his pre-wedding picture slipped and fell the height of three storeys on Thursday evening dying shortly after.

"Deep down I felt he would not survive the fall. But instinct pushed me to take that one per cent chance. I knew I could die but, on the other hand, I could not just stand there and do nothing," Mr Cascun recalled.

Tears streamed down his face and that of his fiancée, Mirleydis Azaharez, as they described those chilling moments that ended in the death of photographer Mario Agius, 57.

The couple recounted how they had chosen Mr Agius as their wedding photographer because they were impressed by the passion he injected in his work. "It was clear it was not just a job for him," they said.

The photographic package included a pre-wedding photo shoot and they decided to be photographed with the sea in the background to use it as a poster on their wedding day, planned for Friday.

They suggested Mr Agius superimpose the sea onto a photo taken in his studio but he insisted on having the real thing. So, on Thursday, the couple picked him up from his Qormi studio after closing time and they headed to Wied Iż-Żurrieq. When they arrived they walked along the area to find the right spot.

Ms Azaharez, accompanied by her sister, suggested a spot but Mr Agius said the sun's position was not good.

The four continued walking and were about to take their position for the photo, as proposed by Mr Agius, when he suddenly slipped and slid towards the edge and off the cliff.

"It was a split second. He had been walking near us, a couple of metres from the edge. He did not even cry out or make a sound... We didn't even have time to help him," Ms Azaharez said, breaking down.

Mr Cascun went on to describe how he looked down and saw Mr Agius floating face down in the sea. He stripped to his underwear and jumped in.

"I don't know what came over me. I'm usually the sort of person who panics if I cut my finger. But jumping seemed to be to be the only option and I don't regret my decision," he recalled.

Once in the sea, Mr Cascun turned Mr Agius's face up and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"He then coughed up some water and this gave me the strength to hold on. I called for help from people on the cliff but no one jumped in. I guess they had their reasons. From where we were, there was no access point to climb back ashore. I just had to wait," he said.

After some time, a small boat, with a man and a boy, arrived and took them to the quay area.

In the meantime, Ms Azaharez and her sister, crying and trembling in shock, had called for the police and the ambulance that arrived soon after and took Mr Agius to hospital.

"That night we did not sleep much. So many thoughts raced through my mind. My concern shifted to his relatives. The short periods I slept I dreamt that things had gone differently and all went well. But that was not what happened," Mr Cascun said.

The following morning the couple heard the bad news. Mr Agius had died in hospital.

Mr Agius's son, Edward, explained he was the first of his family to find out about the accident when he received a phone call from the Żurrieq police station, at about 9.30 p.m. asking him to go to hospital because his father had hurt his leg.

"I told them they would not be calling me if he had just hurt his leg and asked them to tell me what had really happened. They told me to go to hospital. I immediately knew he was dead," he said.

When the family arrived at hospital Mr Agius had just been rushed into the operating theatre. About two hours later, doctors informed them that nothing else could be done and, soon after, Mr Agius died surrounded by his family.

Mr Cascun called the wedding venue yesterday morning and told them to cancel everything even if it meant they would lose their deposit.

"The manager said he would call me back and, in the meantime, I received a phone call from Mr Agius's daughter who insisted we do not cancel anything as their father would not have liked that," he said.

Mr Agius's daughter, Noella, is insisting the couple go ahead with their plans.

"I want to meet them and thank them for trying to help my father... I'm sure if my father had to speak to us he'd be saying: 'As if, you're crazy, let them get married'," Ms Agius said.

So the couple decided to go ahead with the wedding.

"It will not be the same after this tragedy but we want to respect the wishes of his family... The little we knew him was enough for us to realise what a truly nice man he was and, at the moment, we are feeling as though we are part of his grieving family," they said.

Mr Agius's funeral will be held this morning, at 8.30, at St Sebastian parish church in Qormi.