A heroic diver left so traumatised by the Piper Alpha disaster that it took over his life has been found drowned.

The body of Gareth Parry-Davies, 59, was pulled from the River Shannon in Limerick, Ireland, on June 10.

Mr Parry-Davies, who was diving below Piper Alpha when the platform exploded on July 6, 1988, attributed his survival on the night to “a combination of luck, team-work and a strong desire to live”.

The diver not only lived but also helped three others survive the disaster, which claimed the lives of 167 men.

But the father-of-two was so affected by the events he witnessed that his life began to unravel while he struggled with depression and substance abuse.

His wife Terry only became aware of her husband’s heroic actions 20 years after the tragedy when they were recounted in a book about Piper Alpha, Fire in the Night, by author Stephen McGinty.

Terry Parry-Davies told STV News: “Gareth never spoke about Piper Alpha and nobody knew what he had done until the book came out. I can’t comprehend that somebody could do what he did that night.

“I wanted his story to be told, but he suffered from survivor’s guilt and drank heavily.

"Towards the end in the last few years it was like Gareth was on a trail of self-destruction. He became hard to live with, but I always knew why - the problems he suffered were because of Piper Alpha. I have no doubt about that.

“The Gareth that I loved and knew died years ago. Our lives came to be defined by the Piper Alpha disaster - it has left a legacy for our children.

“Gareth wasn’t good at expressing himself and he would become angry and smash things. He never hurt us but his anger would turn inward."

Mr Parry-Davies was diving below Piper Alpha on July 6 when he heard a pair of “loud bangs and a flashes of white light”. Fifty feet above, a missing safety valve caused a gas leak which ignited and exploded through a steel firewall.

A flying piece of metal ruptured a pipe, causing another fire.

By the time the young diver was retrieved, the platform 110 miles north east of Aberdeen was already well ablaze.

Mr Parry-Davies and his fellow divers realised they would have to escape but were unable to reach their lifeboat through the billowing black smoke. Instead, the trio climbed down a rope to get off the platform, leading dozens of others to safety.

They were picked up by the crew of the rescue ship Silver Pit, which the workers feared would be overcome by the intense “wall of heat” created by the platform blazing 200 metres away.

In 1989, Mr Parry-Davies told the Cullen Inquiry: “Ropes on the deck were starting to smoke and I ran to the bridge and took cover.

“I shouted at the skipper to move away from the platform and one of the other divers scrambled down into the water as he thought the boat might explode. After the first major explosion I can recall having this terrible feeling that the platform was finished - nothing was going to put the fire out.”

Safely aboard the Pit, Mr Parry-Davies risked his life further by going to the rescue of three men left clinging to the wreck of a shattered lifeboat. The young diver plunged into the freezing sea with a rope and swam towards the men - only to find the line was too short.

The survivors were later picked up by the Silver Pit where Mr Parry-Davies helped save the life of one of the men, who was clinging to a net on the side of the boat.

He said: “I climbed down and managed to persuade him gently we would not let him go, and to let go of the rope. There were problems getting survivors on board because of the wind, the sea and their lifejackets.”

Mr Parry-Davies was later honoured for his bravery by the Queen.

He was born in Tanzania in East Africa and moved to England in 1987 to work in the oil industry.

Mr Parry-Davies left the oil industry following the disaster and went on to work in Zaire and Angola in Africa before returning to the UK and moving to Ireland in 2012, where he ran a cleaning company.

The former diver lived in Limerick city centre, next to the river where he ended his life last week.

Fire in the Night author Stephen McGinty added: “This is a tragedy because Gareth was one of the heroes of the night and he was clearly haunted by what happened. He was obviously a funny and witty guy - a free spirit but greatly tormented. It’s tragic that he couldn’t find a way through it.

“He is one of the last victims of Piper Alpha.”

Mr Parry-Davies' funeral will be held at Griffin’s funeral chapel in Limerick at 2pm on Saturday.

He leaves behind two children, Dylan, 32, and Zoe, 23.

Source: news.stv.tv

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