A BRIT dad-of-two drowned in his own bodily fluids while snorkeling on holiday in Egypt, an inquest heard.
Les Finch, 72, died on February 27 after he was found unconscious in the water at a coral hotspot known as Three Pools.
MEN MediaLes Finch, an experience snorkeler, was found face-down and not breathing in the water before divers dragged him out[/caption]
AlamyHe died on February 27 at the world-renowned dive resort of Dahab, Egypt[/caption]
The inquest at Preston Coroner’s Court on Wednesday heard Mr Finch, from Ormskirk, Lancs, died from immersion pulmonary oedema.
It happens when the pressure of water on a person’s body ends up in the chest, causing fluid to leak from blood vessels to the lungs.
Mr Finch, an experience snorkeler, was found face-down and not breathing in the water before divers dragged him out.
They tried to resuscitate him while waiting for an ambulance but he died at the scene.
Mr Finch’s wife Martha broke down in tears as she told the court how she “panicked” when she couldn’t find her husband.
She said: “We were swimming round and if you’re looking at fish you aren’t always aware of what’s going on around you or above the water.
“My friend was already out of the water and I said ‘I can’t see Les’.
“She said he had swam past her just before. There were quite a few people in the water and I just couldn’t see him. I really panicked.
“I just couldn’t see him. Then someone found him. It just looked like someone snorkeling. I went to run in but a man said ‘no, don’t run in’.”
The inquest heard that the couple flew from Manchester Airport to Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt on February 22 with a friend who had previously worked in the country.
For the first three days the group stayed in Sharm-el-Sheikh before travelling to Dahab, a world-renowned diving spot on the Red Sea.
The day before his death, Mr Finch had cut short a swim after experiencing a bout of coughing.
He blamed a recent cold but Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers said it was likely “a sign of immersion pulmonary oedema”.
The condition is more common in fit and healthy individuals with risk factors including swimming in cold water, over-hydration and exertion.
In the moments before his death, Dr Rodgers said Mr Finch would not have suffered and lost conscious “very rapidly”.
Returning a narrative conclusion, the coroner said: “He was surrounded by lots of people and no one noticed him in distress and his mask and snorkel were still in place.
“He hadn’t had sufficient time to raise the alarm.”
The cause of death was recorded as immersion pulmonary oedema with high blood pressure and high cholesterol listed as contributory factors.
The coroner told wife Martha: “There was nothing you could have done to detect his heart disease or nothing you could have seen on holiday that suggested it was dangerous for him to get in the water.”
Describing her husband as a “doting granddad who was laid back and loved life”, Martha added: “He died doing something that he loved.
“And it’s a comfort to know he wouldn’t have known anything about it.”