Man dies in hospital after scuba diving on popular wreck off the Florida Keys

David Goodhue
·1 min read
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A North Carolina man died in the hospital after losing consciousness on a scuba diving trip off the Florida Keys Monday morning, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Perry Lane Anderson, 65, from Mooresville, North Carolina, was diving the Coast Guard Cutter Duane — a 327-foot long ship intentionally sunk off Key Largo as an artificial reef in 1987 — when he suffered a health issue, the sheriff’s office said.

Other divers helped him back to the Rainbow Reed Center commercial dive boat around 9:40 a.m., and the crew immediately began CPR, said sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.

Linhardt said it’s not immediately clear if Anderson lost consciousness in the water or once he was on board the boat.

Medics on shore took Anderson to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier, where he was pronounced dead, Linhardt said.

Autopsy results are pending, but the sheriff’s office does not suspect foul play, said Linhardt.