Bethany Farrell photographed hours before her death on the Great Barrier Reef

A DIVE instructor glanced away from a worried first-time diver for a few seconds to find she disappeared. An hour later, she was dead on the sea floor.

Bethany Farrell died at the age of 23 on the Great Barrier Reef.

IT WAS supposed to be the photo that Bethany Farrell could show to friends and family back in the UK to tell them the story about her first dive on the Great Barrier Reef.

Instead, the photo of Ms Farrell smiling, with her snorkel perched on the top of her head on a boat bound for the reef would be the last photograph ever taken of the 23-year-old.

On February 17, 2015, Ms Farrell was found dead on the floor of Hayman Island’s Blue Pearl Bay.

Her dive instructor Fiona McTavish, from Wings Diving Adventures, told an inquest in Mackay this week she had looked away for a few seconds to navigate a tricky section of coral when she lost her.

Immediately after the instructor lost her, a search and rescue was launched. The 23-year-old’s travel partner was quickly taken to the surface and Ms McTavish started looking underwater.

Her lifeless body was found an hour later in a deeper section of water, off the dive path.

On the day of Ms Farrell’s death, the water visibility was less than two metres.

The inquest heard other divers and an instructor called the visibility “terrible”.

Bethany Farrell died on her first Great Barrier Reef dive.

Before slipping below the surface, Ms Farrell was seen frantically coming up for air and waving her arms in distress, according to the boat’s crew member Phillip Brown.

“They were grappling the water, trying to grasp for her,” he said, according to ABC.

A pre-inquest into Ms Farrell’s death logged a report from her dive computer.

It showed the young Brit was at the surface for as long as 40 seconds before she slipped below the water to her death.

Those who were there the day of the incident commented on Trip Advisor after Ms Farrell’s death.

“It will always be embedded in my memory as not only the most horrific accident I’ve witnessed,’’ Nora wrote.

“We lost our friend on this boat. What was supposed to be a dream trip turned into the worst possible nightmare,” a travel companion wrote.

Six days before her death, Bethany had flown from the UK to start her gap year holiday — a rite of passage for most young Brits.

On February 15, 2015, two days before her death, Bethany posted her last photo.

“An afternoon stroll by the harbour,” she wrote.

Bethany’s last Instagram post, a photo of the Whitsundays.

As she was landed in Australia to begin what should’ve been a year long holiday, Ms Farrell uploaded another photo celebrating her trip.

Replying to a friend who wished her well, Ms Farrell said, “I’m very excited. It’s been a long journey. I just want to get there now”.

The Mackay inquest into Bethany’s death concluded yesterday and a report will be prepared to determine how she died and if the dive company followed safety guidelines.

Bethany’s parents Patrick and Caron Farrell flew in for the four-day inquest. They pushed for three years to have their daughter’s “completely avoidable death” investigated, previously saying they hoped the inquest would uncover a “string of systemic failings”.

“We have engaged a barrister to represent our interests and intend that this time no stone will be left unturned in our fight for truth and justice for Bethany,” the couple said in a statement to media.

Wings Diving Adventures was fined $160,000 in March 2017 for breaching its duty under the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011.

No conviction was imposed and the company ceased all scuba activity after the death.

Alexander Michael Keyte, the company’s former director, broke down in tears this week after he was grilled on his company’s safety procedures.

Wiping away tears while on the stand, Mr Keyte apologised directly to Ms Farrell’s parents.

“I’d just like to say I’m really, really sorry for the death of your daughter,” he said, according to the Daily Mercury .

“It hurts me ... every time I cuddle one of my kids I think of your daughter.”