Tourist on snorkeling trip in the Florida Keys dies after screaming for help
.jpg "A tourist from Tennessee died after snorkeling on Molasses Reef off Key Largo on April 30, 2021, according to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.")
A tourist from Dandridge, Tennessee died after losing consciousness while snorkeling on Molasses Reef off Key Largo Friday afternoon, Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies said.
Robert Wayne Chambers, 49, was snorkeling with his family and others on an outing with Sea Dwellers Dive Center when he reportedly screamed for help while in the water, according to deputies.
Chambers stopped breathing and passed out at about 2:15 p.m. Friday when staff from the center brought him onto the boat and started CPR.
According to deputies, a U.S. Coast Guard boat brought Chambers ashore to the Port Largo neighborhood and he was taken to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier, where he died.
Foul play is not suspected and autopsy reports are pending, the sheriff’s office said.
Previous snorkeling fatalities
Earlier in April, Hallandale Beach’s Aleksander Toverovsky, 82, died similarly after he waved for help and then lost consciousness while snorkeling on Molasses Reef with others on a Tropical Odyssey commercial dive boat charter outing.
In September 2020, a 63-year-old Port Orange, Florida, woman died while on a snorkeling trip with a dive boat crew off Key West.
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 11:42 AM.
