The family of the English diver who died tragically in Portnablagh last week have paid a touching tribute to “a big man with an even bigger heart.”
John Allwright (57), a tourist from Bedfordshire who was part of a diving group visiting the county, got into difficulty at 1:45pm on Friday the 28th of July.
Mulroy Bay Coast Guard and the Sligo-based 118 helicopter rushed to his aid, but sadly he was pronounced dead upon arrival at Letterkenny University Hospital.
Mr Allwright had forty years of diving experience, but tragically he was swept into a cave by an underwater current and his oxygen mask became dislodged.
Bedfordshire on Sunday report that in a tribute, his family said that “John was a big man with big, booming voice and an even bigger heart.”
“Picture John and you’ll see him propping up the bar at his local pub with his dogs loyally at his feet, surrounded by friends and sharing stories of his travels.
“He was the kind of person who would change the mood of every room he entered, in one way or another John was a man of immense skill, of diverse passions and of unfaltering generosity.
“Imagine our shock as the man who has been professionally diving for almost 40 years is tragically taken by the very thing he loved the most.
“How can the Langford community, that he has earned such a reputation in over the past 30 years, begin to deal with such a shocking loss? Over a drink at The Plough, of course, crying and laughing in equal parts over a person who had so much to give, but never asked for a thing in return.”
A great family man, his brother Trevor said; “His death has left a huge hole in our lives which will never be filled.”
Sadly his wife Kim, who he married at just 19 years old, passed away in 2013 from breast cancer.
John is survived by his three sons; Stephen (27), David (25), and Michael (22), and granddaughter Elliotte-May (5).
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