A 48 year old man from New Hampshire died while diving offshore of Duck Key Wednesday afternoon.
Matthew Prior was on a dive trip with his family on board a vessel named “Seafari”. According to witnesses, he and a number of others were diving on a hooka rig and he’d been underwater about 15 minutes. A dive instructor underwater with Prior said Prior indicated several times he was alright before signaling he wanted to surface. As he was surfacing, Prior suddenly became unresponsive.
The instructor grabbed him, took him to the surface and called for help. Prior was taken on board the boat and CPR was started. All divers and snorkelers were gathered and the boat headed back to shore.
Prior was pronounced dead at Fishermen’s Hospital. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of his death.