The husband of a British diver who drowned in Malta has spoken of his disappointment that no one on shore had helped them, so as not to get wet.

Mother-of-two Deborah Ward, 46, from Cleckheaton died after finding herself in difficulties during a dive on the tugboat Rozi, off Cirkewwa.

Husband Christopher Stephenson said his wife and himself had only just arrived over the Rozi in Cirkewwa when she signalled that she wanted to surface.

He did not realise it was an emergency and they started a gradual rise to the surface, 25 metres above.

But Mrs Ward, an experienced diver, went motionless half-way up and he had to pull her up to the top. A few metres from the surface her air mouthpiece fell-out.

Mr Stephenson said when they surfaced he had to dump their gear and swim in to the shore where there were hundreds of people standing about. No one jumped in to help them until he got her up to a ledge.

“They didn’t want to get wet. They knew what was happening but no one came in to help,” Telegraph and Argus reported him as telling an inquest..

Once Mrs Ward was on a ledge, some did help get her on dry land and revive her but she never regained consciousness.

“I think she had already gone even before they got her to hospital and she went to intensive care,” he said.

Assistant deputy coroner Oliver Longstaff said Mrs Ward’s death on October 31, 2012 had been an accident caused by barotrauma, a pressure-related injury that causes a burst lung. 

An autopsy in Malta did find signs of a lung rupture, although that finding was not backed up by the UK inquest.

Mr Stephenson told the Telegraph and  Argus he had to accept the cause of death from the experts but was still surprised by it.

“It’s what the first autopsy came up with and that’s why I wanted a second one back home but it’s still a surprise. I’ve researched thousands of cases of barotrauma and found none like hers. Usually it happens to novices who bolt for the surface or others who get tangled in nets and have to get up quickly. How can this have happened to her and not to me? I was with her, we came up together but I’m still here.”

He said he had no idea what had happened to make his wife abruptly decide she wanted to get out of the water just as they got to the wreck.