British Bride dives scuba diving in Micronesia

Posted by Scuba Herald at 8:28 pm 0 Comment Print

Jayne Bloom, 38, an IT consultant and experienced diver, is believed to have suffered a fatal attack of the “bends” while exploring Second World War wrecks off the remote islands of Micronesia.

She was diving with her fiancee Jeffrey Keep, a diving instructor, in the Truk Lagoon, a 50 mile stretch of water full of Japanese wrecks, when she suffered a “serious problem” two days after they arrived, a Doncaster inquest heard.

Miss Bloom was treated in a local hospital before she was transferred to another location to spend time in a pressurised chamber.

She was then taken back to hospital in readiness to be medically evacuated by air ambulance to Australia but died before she could be moved.

Because of its remoteness, Truk Lagoon is one of the most expensive dive destinations in the world and it takes two days to get there from Britain via the Philippines.

Miss Bloom’s body was eventually taken to Brisbane before being flown back to the UK for her parents to arrange her funeral.

Divers who examined her equipment afterwards are said to have found nothing wrong.

Fred Curtis, Deputy Doncaster Coroner, who is awaiting evidence to establish if she rose to the surface too quickly or spent too long underwater and suffered oxygen starvation, adjourned the hearing.

Dive Safety Truk Lagoon