Melanie Stoddart , 38 , from Prestwich in Greater Manchester , died of compression sickness shortly after arriving in the Maldives . A British tourist struck down by 'the bends ' on a scuba diving trip in the Maldives died after it took nine hours to get her to a decompression chamber . An inquest heard Melanie Stoddart , 38 , died of decompression sickness shortly after arriving in the Indian Ocean island for a 12-day holiday with her boyfriend . There was a delay in Ms Stoddart receiving medical help because there was initially no boat or plane to take her to hospital . And upon her arrival at hospital , medics did not even treat her for decompression sickness , the inquest into her death was told . Her parents , Peter , 68 , and Irene , 64 , slammed the 'sheer incompetence ' of the authorities in the Maldives and warned other tourists to 'take note ' before booking a similar trip . The inquest in Chesterfield , Derbyshire , heard how Ms Stoddart , an experienced diver from Prestwich in Greater Manchester , had arrived in the Maldives on April , 1 , 2012 with her boyfriend Steve Greathead . She had been on the same holiday the previous year . On the third day of her organised trip , she was in a party of 12 holidaymakers and two instructors who went to Vaavu Atoll for the last scuba dive of the day just after 3pm . The inquest was told she returned to the surface after about 30 minutes and asked for medical help as she was feeling unwell . Doctors were called and she was taken to the exclusive Alimatha Aquatic Resort nearby . When it became clear her condition was deteriorating the resort 's doctor said she needed to be taken to a decompression chamber , but there was no transport available . A speed boat only arrived from neighbouring Bandos Island , more than 40 miles away , when insurance checks had been carried out . A doctor sedated Ms Stoddart , but decided she was not stable enough to be put in a decompression chamber . She was then transferred for a second time by boat six miles to the capital of Male where CT scans of her head and chest were taken at the ADK Hospital . But at 2.15am the next morning she went into cardiac arrest and died half an hour later . Doctors were called and she was taken to the exclusive Alimatha Aquatic Resort ( pictured ) nearby . The court heard how Ms Stoddart , an experienced diver , had arrived in the Maldives on April , 1 , 2012 with her boyfriend Steve Greathead . She had been on the same holiday the previous year . Initially a post-mortem examination proved inconclusive and it took specialist tests carried out on samples of brain tissue to detect damage caused by nitrogen bubbles being present in her blood stream . Divers ' disease , or 'the bends ' , is a condition caused from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurisation . Consultant Pathologist Dr Andrew Hitchcock told the hearing that the minute damage caused by the bubbles and a ruptured left ear drum suggested Ms Stoddart had decompression syndrome . Her father , Peter Stoddart , of Holmeswood , Derbyshire , told the court his daughter was a qualified diving instructor and member of a club who had dived all over the world . 'Nothing was too much for her , she never failed and was never fazed , ' he said . He said the family had spotted 'discrepancies ' in the reports from police and tour company Scuba Tours Worldwide which raised serious questions about the safety procedures in place . 'It 's my opinion there were no proper safety procedures in place on these islands , ' he said . 'For a people and a country that relies on diving for its main income I would assume there would have been . 'The time lapse was nine hours and that is just not acceptable , ' he added . 'If she had been in a chamber within an hour she would have been stable enough to deal with it . ' Melanie Stoddart was diving from the MV Sea Spirit ( pictured ) in the Maldives when she was taken ill . The ADK Hospital in the Maldives capital of Male where Ms Stoddart died in the early hours on April 4 , 2012 . Recording a narrative verdict , coroner Paul McCandless said : 'Melanie was a practiced and experienced sea diver who took unwell on a dive . Due to a lack of appropriate transport at that time of day there was a delay in taking her to an appropriate facility . 'Once there , there was a partial misdiagnosis that she was not suffering from compression sickness . She was deemed to be too unwell to go into the chamber and was transferred to hospital . 'It is possible that if her condition had been diagnosed sooner that she would not have died when she did . ' He added : 'Holidaymakers need to be aware of what emergency procedures are in place should any particular difficulties arise . ' After the hearing Melanie 's mother Irene , 64 , said : 'My daughter 's death was down to sheer incompetence . She received no treatment for nine hours , how can that be right ? ' MailOnline has contacted tour company Scuba Tours Worldwide for a comment .
Melanie Stoddart , 43 , died of decompression sickness on Maldives island . Delay in her getting medical help as no reason to take her to hospital . Then at hospital , doctors did not even treat her for decompression sickness . Her parents slammed ' sheer incompetence ' of the authorities in Maldives . witnesses gave a narrative verdict and warned other holidaymakers .