Nicholas and Adrian smile for a heartwarming father-son photo aboard a Great Barrier Reef cruise ship. Hours later one of of them would be dead after being swept away while snorkelling
A heartbreaking photo has emerged moments before an elderly man died during a family trip to the Great Barrier Reef, showing him smiling with his son.
Adrian Meyer, from Angaston, South Australia, died after he and a group of snorkelers were swept over the reef by a strong current last Monday.
The 71-year-old was with his son Nicholas Meyer and daughter Angela Henson about 60 kilometers off the coast northeast of Cairns when tragedy struck.
Mr Meyer had traveled to Cairns to view the World Heritage area as part of a belated birthday present for his 70th birthday.
Just before the tragedy struck, Mr Meyer (right) gave a thumbs up in a photo next to his son Nicholas (left)
Dangerous weather conditions had swept the snorkelers far from the boat and a strong current prevented them from swimming back.
It is believed that Mr Meyer suffered a medical episode during the battle with the current and boarded a rescue ship which sank a short time later.
A touching photo taken on board the boat just before the tragic incident unfolded shows Mr Meyer smiling as he gave a thumbs up next to his son.
Nicholas said he initially had plans to return to Cairns to collect his father’s remains, but had since changed his mind.
“My poor mother doesn’t fly and we are trying to support her now,” he said News Corp.
‘She needs us. With all the traumatic events that have happened, we decided it would be better to stay.”
Adrian Meyer (pictured) died after he and a group of snorkelers were swept away by a strong current over the Great Barrier Reef
It is understood Mr Meyer will be cremated at a later stage, but the family have not yet decided where to place his ashes.
“It’s still raw,” Nicholas said.
‘Dad was an avid traveler and so was I. We think we’d like to carry on his memory by taking a little piece of him with us wherever we go, so we’ll see.”
Mrs Henson described her father as a “loving grandfather” with a keen interest in the outdoors.
“He always said, ‘I love you.’ His connection with nature really struck me,” she said.
“He always liked to rattle off names of coral and fish.”
Ms Henson was adopted when she was five weeks old and only met her biological father five years ago.
Angela Henson (left) had only met her father five years ago after he was adopted at the age of five weeks
The 71-year-old was with his son Nicholas Meyer and daughter Angela Henson about 60 kilometers off the coast northeast of Cairns when tragedy struck.
Nicholas said his father was an “avid environmentalist” and was fascinated by the Great Barrier Reef.
‘We would like to do something for nature conservation. That’s something that’s important to Dad’s legacy,” he said.
‘But we don’t know that for sure. We’re still trying to grieve and get over the shock of it all.”
Mr Meyer’s memorial service will take place on Thursday, December 7 in the Barossa Valley.
His death is being investigated by the Northern Coroner and Workplace Health and Safety.