Dad-of-three drowned after fall from jet ski
DEVASTATED FAMILY SPEAK OF ‘HUGE LOSS’ FOLLOWING DEATH OF 49-YEAR-OLD MAN
A DAD-OF-THREE drowned after falling from his jet ski in Africa, an inquest has heard.
Iwan Gwyn, 49, who is originally from Llanaelhaearn but had lived in Ghana for over nine years, died on December 30.
The inquest into his death, held in Caernarfon, heard that Mr Gwyn died as a result of “asphyxiation or drowning” with a “blunt head injury” as a secondary factor.
He was said to be spending time with his friends and family at the time of the incident.
Mr Gwyn decided to take his jet ski out on the Volta River in Alorkpem shortly before 6pm. At first, he could be seen riding up and down the river but then the family noticed that they could no longer see him.
Sadly, two hours later, Mr Gwyn’s body was discovered in the water by two fishermen.
His body was taken to Ghana police hospital where an autopsy was carried out.
A provisional cause of death was given as “asphyxiation or drowning and blunt head injury”.
Speaking during the inquest, assistant senior coroner Sarah Riley confirmed that the head injury was not the direct cause of Mr Gwyn’s death.
She said: “The direct cause of death was drowning.
“Iwan had been enjoying time with friends and family when he went out on his jetski.
“Sometime later they noticed they could no longer see Iwan, and he was discovered some hours later unresponsive by local fishermen.
“He suffered an unwitnessed fall from the jet ski and hit his head during or after the fall.
“His death was both unexpected and unintended. I have concluded that Mr Gwyn’s death was accidental.”
His brother Dafydd described Mr Gwyn’s death as a “huge loss”.
He said: “The family would like to thank everyone who has been in touch to express their sympathies during this very sad time. ‘Fydd colled enfawr ar ei ol’.”