DUBAI // The family of a free diver who drowned off the Dubai coast in January have launched a funding drive to sponsor a student a year at the American University in Washington DC in his memory.
Algerian Adel Ait-Ghezala, 35, a doctoral student at the university, had been spearfishing with three friends on New Year’s Day, 32 kilometres off Dubai Marina, when he failed to resurface.
His body was found by a friend almost 10 days after Ait-Ghezala, a husband and father, went missing.
His family has said that it would set up a scholarship fund in Adel’s name at the university, with the hope being to raise US$50,000 (Dh183,650) for the scholarship.
Of this, about $20,000 was being raised through the funding website fundly.com and the remainder was expected to come from his family and from what was donated by friends and well-wishers during the search in January. At that time, almost $70,000 was raised for the search effort.
Professional divers, volunteers on fishing boats and coastguards launched a huge hunt for the missing diver. The Algerian was visiting Dubai with his wife and had plans to go to Oman to meet his mother before returning to the US to finish his doctorate.
He was an experienced free diver and had gone spearfishing with a wetsuit, flippers, goggles, spear gun and a special watch. The group had been out in the sea from noon in a private boat. Police had initially said he had worn a six-kilogram diving vest and that may have prevented him from reaching the surface. His friends, however, said that his vest weighed only four kilos.
As of Wednesday, about $10,500 had been raised from 45 donors on fundly.com. The campaign hopes to meet its target within a week.
pkannan@thenational.ae
