Marcus Kitching Howe launched a 30-minute rescue operation in treacherous conditions to save the group in trouble in waters off the northern harbour city of Ċirkewwa
The pro-diver, who is from the Swainby area, and owns ABC Diving where he lives on the Mediterranean island got back from a dive with a client on March 26 last year when he noticed winds had suddenly picked up, making diving conditions extremely dangerous.
At a ceremony at Haberdashers Hall in London this week he received a bronze medal for his bravery from the Royal Humane Society. It is awarded to people who put their own lives at great risk to save or attempt to save someone else.
The North Yorkshireman said: “I am honoured to receive the award.
Marcus with his bronze medal. (Image: KEITH TAYLOR) “I just acted instinctively and it is a day I will never forget, especially the tragic loss of one of the divers who was in the water at the time.”
Last March Marcus, a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) course director and emergency first-response trainer, noticed the group of divers who were in distress and went back into the water.
The scuba instructor grabbed a 12-metre rope line, tied a part of it to a handrail, and took the other end into the water for the divers to grab hold of and pull themselves out.
Speaking at the time to the Times of Malta newspaper, Marcus said: “The divers could grab the line and pull themselves out of the water towards the exit.
(Image: Keith Taylor) “But the waves kept picking up making it harder for the divers to simply swim to the shoreline.
“I was in the water for another half hour, and ten divers were able to exit the water by using the line.”
He left the water to watch from the top of a sea wall and noticed two divers who by some rocks. Despite the choppy waters and the obvious danger, Mr Kitching Howe put his fins and mask back on and swam out to them.
He said: “I noticed the diver that was being kept afloat on his back was unresponsive and not breathing.”
Tragically, the 45-year-old Dutch man living in Spain, could not be saved despite the scuba instructor’s best efforts.