A MARINE conservation student blacked out and drowned while diving on a coral reef in the Caribbean, an inquest heard.
Thomas Dunkley, 28, of Forest Hill, Oxford, was carrying out research for his Masters degree.
The diving enthusiast was exploring a reef 25 metres under the sea from a boat off the coast of Martinique.
When he failed to surface, a colleague swam down and found him unconscious. He pulled him to the surface where attempts were made to resuscitate him.
The inquest in Oxford yesterday heard Mr Dunkley had been diving since he was 12 years old.
Pathologist Dr Ian Roberts said the cause of death was drowning associated with a shallow water blackout.
He told the inquest that Mr Dunkley, who represented Oxfordshire as a 400 and 800 metre runner, may have passed out returning to the surface after staying underwater too long and starving his brain of oxygen.
Assistant deputy coroner Dr Richard Whittington recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Mr Dunkley’s parents, Robin and Rosalyn, have set up the Tom Dunkley Memorial Fund to award grants to other marine conservation students.
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