Dad says he'll 'never stop' searching for answers after daughter died diving in Albania
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A devastated dad has said that he'll 'never stop' searching for answers after his daughter died while diving in Albania.
Speaking to Sky News, George Gannon, 61, said his 29-year-old daughter Rebecca was diving at the Spiranca Diving Centre in Sarande in September 2022 when she got into difficulties.
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Rebecca was an avid diver and wanted to complete 30 dives by her 30th birthday, though she tragically lost her life on the 29th dive.
Since then, dad George, from Stone, Staffordshire, has spent his life savings trying to figure out what happened to his daughter.
He also criticised the government, saying they've been 'no help whatsoever' and that the death of his daughter has been 'swept under the carpet'.
George said he was 'stunned' to find out of Rebecca's passing, recalling the earth-shattering moment in an interview with Sky News.
He said: "We were sitting as a family watching the funeral of the Queen when there was a knock on the door, two policemen came in and said, 'We've got to tell you that your daughter died in Albania'.
"I haven't even been able to cry yet, I haven't been able to grieve."
In his efforts for answers, George has spent much of the last 12 months in Albania, and is now set to return to the UK.
"It's terrible, I've had no help from the Albanian government, I've had no help from the British government whatsoever," he told Sky News.
"I've just been out there on my own fighting for my daughter with no help whatsoever and when I've tried to contact people they just won't speak.
"It's like the whole situation has been swept under the carpet and it never happened, but I'll never stop, never, never stop, until I get justice."
Sky News reports that Spiranca, the company behind the dives, no longer appears to be operating, with one Albanian journalist saying there had been an arrest.
Muhamed Veliu, of Top Channel TV, said: "The prosecutors charged the owner of this company, which provides scuba diving in Saranda, with breaching health and safety regulation of work.
"This is the only charge and basically he did put a surety of about £13,000 and he was released on bail."
The journalist went on to say investigations in Albania can take up to two years before prosecutors decide whether or not to take a case to court.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Foreign Office in the UK said: "We are assisting the family of a British national who died in Albania and are in contact with the local authorities."
