AN Urmston man sent a mobile photo and text to his wife showing her how perfect his diving holiday had been in a Norwegian fjord, just minutes before he died.

The inquest into the death of Ian Horridge, 44, a former structural designer, was resumed at Stockport Coroner's Court, where a number of witnesses described events leading up to his death on June 11, 2013 in the water off the coast of Bremanger.

The father of one, who was a keen cyclist and black belt at both ju jitsu and karate, had been spending a week diving, while his wife Sandra, 53 and son Adam, 23, were at home.

Mrs Horridge told the Messenger: "In his final text and photo he used the analogy of a famous beer ad, to describe it as the best ever diving experience he had ever had."

"At the time, I was in the shower, but subsequently sent a message back saying it was all right for some, as I was on my way to work, but he never got that final response."

Mr Horridge, who had been diving for more than 20 years, was on day three of a week long diving expedition down to the wreck of the 2,500 ton German cargo steamship Helga Ferdinand, which was sunk by British aircraft in November 1944.

Robert Braithwaite, who like Mr Horridge, was an experienced recreational diver, said 12 divers took part in the dive, from a buoy, which everyone was doing individually.

Mr Braithwaite said he stopped 10 metres into the dive to put more air into his suit and noticed Mr Horridge about seven metres away heading down to the wreck without stopping.

"I thought he was going rather quickly, reasonably promptly and didn't think crikey, there is something wrong."

It wasn't until Mr Braithwaite got near to the wreck that he saw Mr Horridge was on his back in the wreck and clearly in trouble.

"I pulled his hand and his glove came off and when I tried to pull him up he was very heavy. I literally had to drop on top of him because there was no buoyancy and I needed to get him back to the surface."

Once back at the surface Mr Horridge was lifted on board the boat and given CPR before he was winched into an emergency helicopter and taken to Bergen where he was pronounced dead later the same morning.

Fellow diver Mark Evans said all the equipment had been checked on the boat and the atmosphere was relaxed with Ian texting his wife and taking photographs.

"The evening before he was laughing and joking and if he ever felt unwell he would not have gone into the water.

"He was very professional and he knew what he was doing and he was known throughout the country as a very experienced diver."

Vital evidence which could have cast more light on Mr Horridge's death was lost after vital scrubbing material from Mr Horridge's tanks was thrown overboard after he was pulled from the water.

Scientific examination of the gases and tanks by a Health and Safety Executive, Nicholas Bailey, led him to conclude nothing was wrong with the gases or the equipment.

Returning a verdict of accidental death caused by drowning and a heart defect, coroner John Pollard said:" Something, sudden and significant happened and I am not sure what that was, did he not get enough oxygen, sadly we will never know because we don't have the evidence one way or another."

Following the inquest Mrs Horridge added: "Ian was a larger than life character and he used to say life's not a dress rehearsal, so live it."