Keen diver Peter Morgan, 64, failed to resurface with the rest of his party on the expedition as they explored a sunken ship nine miles off the coast in Anglesey, North Wales
A father of four tragically died on a scuba excursion to examine the wreckage of a sunken ship.
Keen diver Peter Morgan, 64, failed to resurface with the rest of his party on the expedition as they explored a sunken ship nine miles off the coast in Anglesey, North Wales
An
inquest heard retired businessman Mr Morgan had travelled more than 100 miles to dive to the wreckage of MV Segontium.
Mr Morgan, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, had been diving for eight years after learning while living in Dubai with diving buddy Michael Dennison.
The pair descended 30 to 35 metres below sea level but Mr Morgan struggled with his buoyancy and "drifted away" from Mr Dennison.
When others on the excursion returned to the boat and Mr Morgan did not, a mayday call was made and the
coastguard was called to the scene.
A multi-agency search was launched but sadly Mr Morgan was recovered and, was pronounced dead at around 7pm.
Mr Dennison said: "He was a lovely guy, bubbly, full of fun, mischievous - I liked him a lot. I'm a very experienced diver and we had dove together on many occasions before.
"During the dive, we were no more than two metres apart. It was murky and visibility was poor.
"We didn't find the wreck, but we had already made the decision beforehand that if that was the case we would dive along the seabed, which we did. When we began ascending, he lost buoyancy slightly and started ascending a bit faster, but this is quite normal.
"He was around three metres above me, I could see that he had adjusted the rate of ascent but then he drifted away from the line and I lost sight of him."
Mr Morgan's wife, Susan Morgan, said that he had "everything to live for" and was a "delighted" grandfather of three.
Pathologist, Dr Brian Rogers said Mr Morgan would have "drowned within seconds" after passing out during a "rapid, uncontrolled ascent".
A cause of death indicated that Mr Morgan may have drowned as a result of a gas embolism - a bubble that becomes trapped in a blood vessel and blocks it.
It can happen if a scuba diver spends too long underwater, surfaces too quickly or holds their breath as they come up.
Coroner Katie Sutherland said Mr Morgan died as the result of "no more than a simple accident that had tragic consequences".
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