A BRIT dive master tragically died just minutes into exploring a shipwreck in Malta, an inquest heard.
Darrel Nicholas Pascoe was sadly pronounced dead after swimming to the surface too quickly while on holiday with his wife Sue last year.
Tragedy struck on October 12 when the 66-year-old was diving around the popular P29 wreck.
He had been exploring for around three minutes with a dive buddy, before signalling he wanted to go back up.
An inquest into his death in Truro, Cornwall, today heard Mr Pascoe, an experienced diver, went straight to the surface without following safety measures to prevent ‘the bends’.
Mr Pascoe went into cardiac arrest and was pulled from the water by his dive buddy with the help of another person.
They performed CPR while waiting for paramedics in a desperate bid to save his life.
Emergency services later rushed Mr Pascoe to the Mater Dei Hospital in Msida.
The 66-year-old’s cause of death was determined as a fatal diving related pulmonary barotrauma due to a too-rapid ascent.
But it was not what is known as decompression sickness, or the bends.
The bends is a specific type of barotrauma that happens when gases, usually nitrogen, mix with their tissues and become trapped in places they shouldn’t be.
The inquest heard how it had not been possible to determine the exact reason why the dive master went to the surface so quickly.
The hearing was also told how Mr Pascoe hadn’t dived in 18-months before his death and had an undiagnosed heart condition.
And, he did not provide a medical certificate from his GP showing he was fit to dive, which was necessary.
Instead, Mr Pascoe chose a diving school which did not require the paperwork and took him on due to his previous experience.
However, Thomas Grigor, consultant pathologist with the Royal Cornwall Hospital, told the inquest a medical test in Malta might not have revealed Mr Pascoe’s undiagnosed heart condition.
The consultant pathologist also said the condition would likely have only played a minor part in the tragedy.
He told the hearing there could have been a variety of different reasons the diver rushed to the surface.
These could have ranged from a medical episode to equipment malfunction.
But he said being unable to equalise the pressure whilst at the bottom, which can lead to severe head pain, was the most likely reason behind his actions.
He told the inquest: “It is impossible to say if Mr Pascoe would have survived the incident if he didn’t have a pre-existing heart issue.”
Assistant coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Guy Davies said Mr Pascoe had been healthy before his death and was an experienced diver.
He said it was not possible to determine the reason why he rushed to the surface too quickly.
Recording his conclusion, Mr Davies said: “Mr Pascoe died from a diving related pulmonary barotrauma following a rapid ascent for reasons unknown.”
