SATURDAY, APRIL 7: Diving experts are to try to piece together the final moments of an experienced instructor who died in shallow water on Thursday.
Ryan Craig, 25, died while using a closed circuit rebreather — a piece of technical diving equipment —in nine feet of water off the beach at Grotto Bay.
Mr Craig, a Canadian, was an experienced commercial and technical diver, and a PADI diving instructor.
He had been working at Triangle Diving Bermuda for just over a year and was married to a Bermudian, 24-year-old Madison.
Graham Maddocks, owner of Triangle Diving Bermuda, said Mr Craig’s wife is “broken up” but that family and friends are rallying together.
His father is flying to the island from Canada today.
Mr Maddocks said plans are already underway to commemorate Mr Craig.
“We will do something down at the shop but right now we are trying to get ourselves together,” he said.
“It was a horrible accident and this is a very sad time for everyone. It is a huge shock, a huge blow.
“It is the first time anything like this has ever happened to us. We are a tight group and Ryan was a very big part of our lives.
“The phones have not stopped ringing since Thursday with people wanting to give their condolences. This boy touched so many people’s lives and everyone loved him.
“He will be very sorely missed.”
Mr Maddocks said he believed Mr Craig was trying out some new parts on a closed circuit rebreather.
It is thought he entered shallow water off the beach at Grotto Bay Beach Hotel — just yards from the dive shop — at about 1pm.
Once the alarm was raised that Mr Craig was missing, Mr Maddocks and fellow divers began to search the nearby water, joined by police divers.
“We had about seven or eight people looking for him and another boat in the water. Then one of the guys from the top of the boat saw something in the water.
“We pulled him out of the water and started CPR but he’d been dead for hours.
“He was just off the beach in about nine feet of water.”
Mr Craig’s body was recovered at about 4.35pm and he was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead two hours later.
“Ryan was a very dear friend of mine,” said Mr Maddocks.
“He was loved by everyone. Ryan was always smiling, always optimistic. He was just a great guy.
“Every guest who came through those doors always asked for him. Nothing was too big or small for him, it was always rosy with him.”
Mr Craig was also a “wonderful videographer,” said Mr Maddocks.
“He did all our movies for us.”
This included a documentary on the threat that lionfish are posing to marine species in Bermuda’s waters and the work of environmental charity, the Ocean Support Foundation.
But it was technical diving which was Mr Craig’s main interest, Mr Maddocks said.
“Technical diving was his passion.
“Technical divers are not unused to losing people. It is an up and coming sport. We’re on the cutting edge, exploring new frontiers and with any type of new frontier you will always have losses.
“We are experts in technical diving and have all the certifications but accidents can happen.
“Ryan would be so upset if this accident led to people poo-pooing technical diving and in some way prevented it from going forward.
“He wanted to be part of that and he would want things to keep going forward, and that’s exactly what we’ll do.
“On Monday we will take the equipment apart piece by piece with the police and Marine and Ports authorities, and figure out what happened.”
Mr Maddocks said a conference call with a renowned rebreather diver, who is a friend of his, will also take place.
“He is an expert in this particular brand of equipment,” he said.
“But at the end of the day only Ryan will know what happened.”
He added: “When you start dealing with closed circuit rebreather systems it’s the safest way to dive deep but it’s a sophisticated piece of equipment and so many things can go wrong.
“Within eight to nine feet of water is actually the most dangerous depth to dive and most rebreather accidents happen at that depth.
“Rebreathers don’t start to do well until they are in the 70 to 80 feet range, so when you’re in eight to nine feet of water it may give you a sense of being safe but the reality is you’re probably at your most vulnerable at that depth.”
Paying tribute
Stephen Harrold, 35, worked alongside Mr Craig at Triangle Diving Bermuda.
The PADI instructor and boat skipper described him as “one of the nicest guys you could meet”.
“He was one of the world’s most genuinely kind-hearted and helpful people,” said Mr Harrold.
“We spent a lot of time working together and were like brothers. I will miss him massively, it’s going to be a big gap in my life. He was such a fantastic person. He will be sorely missed.”
Friend and dive buddy Marcus Cooper, 40, added: “Ryan was really nice to everyone. He had a huge heart. Myself and all my friends are very shocked. He was such a great guy.”
Ondrej Hindl, a PADI instructor with Blue Water Divers and friend of Mr Craig, said: "On one of our last dives for the Ocean Support Foundation, while looking for lionfish in depths of 200 feet, Ryan needed to send a liftbag up to the surface. His reel got jammed so I reached for mine and passed it to him.
"Ryan signalled that my reel was much better and was gonna keep it. I pulled my knife out, pretending to claim the ownership. I will never forget the grin on his face.
"He was like young Johnny Barnes. He was always happy, smiling and there was enough space in his heart for everyone."