Bride-to-be dies in scuba diving tragedy on dream holiday - days before she was due to marry

Jayne Bloom, 38, is thought to have suffered a fatal attack of 'the bends' while exploring a remote lagoon with fiance Jeffrey Keep.

The dream holiday to the Pacific islands of Micronesia last month had been due to end with their wedding.

Tragic: Jayne Bloom (r) died while diving in Micronesia. She was due to have maried Jeff Keep (l) a week later

Mr Keep told an inquest in Doncaster that Miss Bloom, an IT consultant, was a 'very experienced' diver but had 'a serious problem' during a dive on June 29.

She died at a local hospital and her body has been flown home for her funeral.

The inquest was adjourned yesterday, awaiting evidence to establish if Miss Bloom ascended too quickly or spent too long underwater and suffered oxygen starvation.

The couple were exploring the 50-mile wide Truk Lagoon, which is famed for its spectacular remains of coral-draped Japanese warships and fighter planes.

She was rushed to a local hospital before then being put in a pressurised chamber used to treat decompression sickness, known as the bends, that can occur if a diver surfaces too fast.

Medics wanted to evacuate her by air ambulance to Australia, but she died before she could be moved.

Divers who examined her equipment afterwards are said to have found nothing wrong with it but have submitted a full report for the inquest in Doncaster.

A miniature computer she wore on her wrist during the dive is expected to provide vital clues to what went wrong.

Jayne, who was an advanced scuba diver, is believed to have died from the 'bends'

Holiday isles: Micronesia is a mecca for sub-aqua enthusiasts

Her mother, Margaret Bloom from Edenthorpe, Doncaster, last saw her daughter a week before she went on holiday.

She said: 'She had been interested in diving for some time, she took it up about seven or eight years ago and she has been diving ever since, in this country and abroad.'

Her daughter had suffered serious leg and pelvic injuries in an accident five years ago when she fell through a window but had made a full recovery, she said.

Miss Bloom and her fiance arrived in Chuuk, part of the Federated States of Micronesia, on June 27.

Because of its remoteness, it is one of the most expensive dive destinations in the world and it takes two days to get there from Britain via the Philippines.

Dive enthusiasts regard it as the best place in the world to see shipwrecks because of the clear water.

A large part of the Japanese Imperial Fleet was sunk in the lagoon in 1944 after being attacked by U.S planes.

Anyone diving in the lagoon must have at least two years experience diving to 60 feet.

Mr Keep, of Reddish, near Stockport declined to comment on the tragedy after the inquest was adjourned.

The couple were due to be married on July 5. Miss Bloom publicly announced that they were engaged at a diving show in Birmingham last year.