Last photo of man before pool death

This is the last picture taken of Irishman David Keogh before he drowned in a pool in Portugal on what should have been the family holiday of a lifetime to celebrate his dad being cancer-free.

It was taken ahead of a family meal at the resort on the Algarve, just before he went out for a few drinks with his nephews, Ben, 16, and Oisín, 22, in the early hours of August 31.

Just a few short hours later, his lifeless body was dragged from the pool and his nephew and a security guard at the resort frantically tried to resuscitate him.

It is still not known exactly what happened on that fateful night, as David was an accomplished swimmer who had just recently been awarded a PADI certificate for scuba diving.

The results of the post-mortem will not be known for another six to eight weeks.

The popular Wicklow man — the youngest child and only son of James and Breda Keogh from Greystones — was laid to rest on what should have been his 30th birthday on September 12.

David’s heartbroken family has spoken out about the devastation of his death and how it was made even more difficult to bear by the fact that his insurance company, the AA, refused to pay for his body to be flown back home to Ireland until an investigation into his death was complete.

This resulted in delays getting David embalmed and repatriated, which meant his parents and sisters didn’t get a chance to see or identify his body until 10 days after he died.

“By then, he didn’t look like himself at all,” his heartbroken sister, Karena (45) said.

“We went through hell over there trying to get everything organised to have him flown home.”

Karena and son Oisín (22) her sister Annduella (42) and her kids Ben (16) and Mya (14), their parents Breda and James (69) had all travelled on their first holiday overseas together to celebrate the fact that James had been given the all clear after gruelling treatment for prostate cancer.

“It was a celebration,” Karena said. “It turned into a nightmare.

“My parents never got to see David in the hospital after he died. He was on ice until the undertakers were given the go-ahead to embalm him. It was such a joke how it was dealt with from start to finish.”

The repatriation of David’s body was eventually paid for by the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, who came to the family’s aid after just one desperate phone call and plea for help.

In a statement, a spokesman for The AA said: “This is a dreadful tragedy and it happened in very exceptional circumstances.

“When a death occurs in a situation like this, it is not a normal situation or a normal death. It is a very unusual case and that means that police and coroner’s investigations have to take place.

“By their nature these cases take more time. The process is slow because it is so serious.”

The AA said they have committed to refund the cost of the repatriation incurred by the charity.