'Beautiful' Brit superyacht worker dies while snorkelling on his day off in Fiji

An inquest into the death of Christian Bogle, 26, heard that the Brit joined other members of the yacht's crew to go snorkelling at a beach where the conditions were perfect

A "beautiful" Brit superyacht worker tragically died while snorkelling on his day off in Fiji after suffering a medicial episode, an inquest heard.

Christian Bogle, 26, had been working on superyachts when he died off Mala Mala, a tiny islet within the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji in the South Pacific.

An inquest into his death, held in Truro on March 31, heard that Christian joined other members of the yacht's crew to go snorkelling at a beach where the weather and water conditions were perfect. Tragically, Christian soon disappeared from view and his crewmates launched a search party to find the missing Brit.

Emergency services were involved and the search resumed the next morning. Christian's body was sadly discovered at the bottom of the sea on the reef that day, June 3 last year. A local postmortem examination established the medical cause of death as drowning.

During the inquest, it was heard that Christian suffered weekly micro seizures and had done so since the age of eight. These seizures which would last 10 to 15 seconds, CornwallLive reported.

Medical tests showed that the otherwise super fit and healthy young man had a small cavernous haemangioma on the frontal lobe (a small bleed on the brain), a condition which can lead to seizures or, in more extreme cases, strokes.

Christian had been on special medications for his condition and even had a year's supply prescribed to him ahead of travelling to Australia. Dr Tim Bracey, a consultant pathologist with the Royal Cornwall Hospital, who carried out a second postmortem examination on Christian's body after it was repatriated back to Cornwall, told the inquest that his condition may have been exacerbated by anxiety or stress.

He said it had been possible that sea urchin stings he had received while snorkelling, while not fatal in themselves, may have led to an increase in stress and a flare-up in his condition, which then led to a seizure whilst in the water.

"Being stung by the urchins, it is possible that Christian had a reaction to them that could have placed him in a stressful situation and had a seizure as a result," Dr Bracey said.

In a statement read out at the inquest, Christian's mother, Diane, said her only son had been a "beautiful boy inside and out" who had studied and worked hard to achieve his dream of working on superyachts.

"She said he had always been aware of his seizures and never lost consciousness or collapsed on the floor but had always managed to bring them under control when they happened. She told the hearing that Christian had always been driven to succeed and always gave 100 per cent to achieve his goals in life.

The inquest heard that Christian was in regular conversations with his mum back home, and told her he was happy and enjoyed being with the crew. In one message, he told her, "It was like he had come home" and found his place in the world, saying Fiji was like Paradise.

Assistant coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Emma Hillson, said that on the balance of probability, Christian had died from drowning following a seizure episode caused by his frontal lobe cavernous haemangioma. She recorded an accidental death conclusion.