Disabled duo's historic dive to the 'Cemetery'

A PARAPLEGIC man and his blind friend have made history by plunging 30 metres through the world’s most deadly underwater site, dubbed the “Diver's Cemetery”.

- BY CHRIS RICHES

Shaun Gash, 54, was told he had days to live after being paralysed from the chest down with a spinal cord injury after a crash 35 years ago, but fought to survive and has since been awarded an MBE for his fundraising.

After discovering no disabled scuba diver had ever conquered Egypt's notorious Blue Hole, he recruited his blind friend Mohammed Salim Patel, 31, to join him for the challenge.

The spot in the Red Sea is reputed to have the most diver fatalities in the world, with estimates of between 130 and 200 underwater deaths in recent years.