Newlywed dies after scuba diving accident on honeymoon

Newlywed, whose husband proposed 18 days after their first date, dies in his arms after scuba diving accident on their honeymoon

By Anneta Konstantinides From Daily Mail UK

Lindsey McFadden was 31 when she died from internal bleeding in her liver

Her final words to her husband John were ‘I feel sick’

Minnesota couple started out as friends because of their 20-year age gap

Married just a month after they finally had their first date

A newlywed died in her husband’s arms during a honeymoon scuba diving trip in the Caribbean.

Lindsey and John McFadden, from Minnesota, were scuba diving when something suddenly went horribly wrong.

When Lindsey, who was 31 and an experienced diver, reached the surface she told her husband ‘I feel sick’.

Those were her last words.

Mere seconds later she died in John’s arms.

It was a tragic end to a slow-burning romance, one John describes as the ‘best short story ever.’

The couple first met in August 2013 after a mutual friend recommended John, a self-employed handyman, to Lindsey for repair work.

After the meeting they both called their friend to find out more about the other person, admitting they had a crush.

John, 51, had liked that Lindsey, a dialysis nurse, ‘came prepared with a ladder strapped to the top of her car,’ he wrote on lindseymcfadden.com, a blog he keeps in remembrance of his wife.

But the first chapter in the couple’s story was friendship – Lindsey was already in a relationship.

And both had already decided their 20-year age gap was too large an obstacle.

The future couple reunited seven months later when Lindsey asked John to take a look at a bathroom she was hoping to remodel.

John’s work partner noticed that Lindsey’s eyes were puffy and asked if she was okay.

‘Lindsey replied she had just that day broken off a romantic relationship and even though she had know for a while it wasn’t what she wanted she was still hurt over it ending,’ John wrote on his blog.

‘She said she debated on canceling our meeting but had determined that moving forward was how she planned to live her life now so what better time to meet us.’

Inspired by her ‘logic and vulnerability,’ and ecstatic that she was single, John told his friend he was going to ‘make a run for this girl’.

His friend’s response? ‘A man can always dream’.

But just as a repair had first brought the two to meet, it would also be the occasion to bring them together.

John realized the bathroom repair would be an ‘incredible opportunity to break the mold of dating,’ he told TwinCities.com.

He asked Lindsey if she wanted to ‘sweat-equity this project’, meaning she would pay for the repair not with money, but by working with John side-by-side.

John said he knew the approach would would ‘give us a lot of time together’.

And it did.

For months the two worked to transform a bathroom filled with rusty metal, a rotted window, and a tiny, terrible tub.

When they weren’t working, the friends were eating plenty of meals together.

But after the project was over, John was ready to end the friendship – and hopefully begin a relationship – with another invitation to dinner, which ended with a kiss.

John wanted to skip a few chapters and make up for lost time.

‘I asked her to marry me 18 days later,’ he said.

But even the wedding date set for five months later turned out to be too long of a wait.

During a trip to visit his family, a month after the proposal, John found Lindsey writing something in the kitchen.

‘On the top of the page it said, “Pros” and “Cons”. I said, “Baby, what’s this list about?”

‘She said, “I’m making a pro/con list of us getting married today.”

‘I looked up and my mom and my niece were beaming. I said, “Forget the list, let’s vote.”‘

By 4.30pm that day, with three guests and a bridal bouquet from Whole Foods, they were married in John’s parents front yard.

The marriage stayed secret and the couple went on with their October wedding as planned before jetting off about a month later for their honeymoon in Cozumel, Mexico.

It was there Lindsey died, from what turned out to be an internal bleed in her liver.

The couple had only been married 168 days.

IMAGES:

Lindsey McFadden, pictured here just days before her death, was only 31 when she died in her husband John’s arms after scuba diving on their honeymoon. She had suffered an internal bleed in her liver

The Minnesota couple first met in 2013 after a mutual friend recommended John, a self-employed handyman, to Lindsey for home repair work. Lindsey was in a relationship and they started out as friends

The couple, pictured here on their wedding day, were also daunted by a 20-year age gap. But after Lindsey broke up with her boyfriend, John finally asked her on a date – and proposed 18 days later

The couple went ahead with the ceremony they had already scheduled for five months later, keeping their early wedding a secret. They were married 168 days before Lindsey passed away

Barely a month after John proposed the couple exchanged vows, a decision they made just that day

For more on this story go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2953574/Lindsey-McFadden-tragically-died-husband-s-arms-scuba-diving-honeymoon.html#ixzz3Rlp1xPMu