by LUTHER MONROE @ CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Florida (12 Apr 2009) — A woman who learned to dive last February drowned while scuba diving with her husband in South Florida.
Authorities told CDNN that Mary Darnley, a 58-year-old retired nurse from Pennsylvania, was scuba diving with her husband off Lauderdale-By-The-Sea when the fatal accident occurred.
Darnley's husband told police he lost contact with his wife as the couple headed for shore.
He and other divers found her floating unconscious at the surface and pulled her to the beach at the 4100 block of El Mar Drive where they started CPR.
Paramedics took over and rushed Darnley to Holy Cross Hospital, however, she never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at the medical facility at about 11:00 am.
According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, the couple had been staying at the Yacht Haven Park & Marina in Fort Lauderdale.
The scuba diving accident victim was a novice diver who learned to dive in February.