What was supposed be like a dream-like celebration of their newly-married life ended in tragedy when overseas Filipino worker (OFW) couple Leomer and Erika Joyce Lagradilla drowned to death while on their honeymoon in the beautiful islands of the Maldives.
The 29-year-old wife and her 30-year-old husband were guests in a resort in Dhiffushi island and were snorkeling when they started drowning.
Both were rescued by resort workers but were pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.
While writing about the case, The Filipino Times came across the case of Irish national Andrew Roddy who had an eerily similar death to the Filipino couple.
In October 2017, newlyweds Andrew Roddy and Gill Campion flew to the Maldives from Ireland only three weeks following their marriage for a vacation and to celebrate the new phase of their life as a couple.
In an interview with The Irish Sun, Campion said the two of them were just swimming when she “turned around and Andrew was gone”. But a few moments later, Campion saw herself pulling the body of her lifeless husband from the ocean back to the shore. Roddy was a very good swimmer, according to her wife.
Two other people tried to resuscitate Roddy but the Irish man was already dead.
Not drowning?
Following the incident, a close friend of Roddy’s mother said that there is a possibility that it was not drowning saying: “Some people initially said it was a drowning but we have no evidence of what it was… They don’t know what happened — nothing has been established for sure. All that we know for definite is that the incident happened in the water. He just dropped in the water. Because the incident happened in the water, it doesn’t necessarily mean he drowned,” the friend added.
Another case in the Maldives, however, offered a possible reason for the drowning incidents. In another interview with The Irish Sun, a woman named Lisa Mole said that she also had a similar experience in the island only two weeks before Roddy’s untimely death.
Mole said that she was swimming with her husband when she suddenly lost consciousness and “died for five minutes” while in the water.
Luckily for Mole, two doctors were nearby and were able to resuscitate her. One of the possible reasons given for Mole’s sudden loss of consciousness was “electrocution by undersea cables”. Some claim that this could also be the reason for Roddy’s death but no confirmation was given since.
Probe into OFW couple’s demise
There is no confirmation either that the two cases were related to the death of the OFW couple as investigation on their death is still underway.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has already instructed its honorary consul in the Maldives to coordinate with police authorities there for the investigation.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato informed Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. that the Philippine Embassy in Dhaka received confirmation from the Ministry of Tourism of Maldives that they will be shouldering the cost of the repatriation of the remains of the couple back to the Philippines.
The remains of the OFW newlyweds were flown to Sri Lanka for embalming before their repatriation to the Philippines.
