SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (1 Nov 2007) — A man from Wirral died after suffering the bends during a dive to explore a sunken wreck in Egypt. An inquest was told John Pauls, 44, from Kingsway, died after surfacing too quickly during the holiday dive last year. Mr Pauls had been with a group of 18 divers who had been exploring the wreck at Sharm El-Sheikh. He had already dived the day before, and was part of a group who were exploring the wreck when he indicated to his buddy diver he had a problem and started to ascend. The inquest heard that when he first surfaced he was joking and acting normally, but as he tried to climb the ladder to the dive boat he had collapsed and fallen back into the water. The crew immediately stripped him of his diving gear and having got him on the boat attempted resuscitation. He was later transferred by a search and rescue boat to the Sharm El-Sheikh International Hospital where he was pronounced dead on Monday, May 22. | 
