The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

NAKITA Headley said Dean’s Blue Hole will remain a place of solace for her despite the tragic loss of her father there.

Douglas McHardy, 50, drowned at the popular site last weekend, but his daughter is against restricting access to the attraction.

“It’s just unfortunate that his life was lost, but I don’t agree with closing it down,” she said yesterday. “It’s a beautiful attraction and a part of home. I’m not calling for it to be shut off from the rest of the world because it’s still a beautiful private beach.

“It’s going to be my place of solace when I want to feel close to my father. From what I understand, his body is down so deep they may not be able to retrieve it. So, if that’s going to be his resting place, I still want to visit it when I feel the need to be close to him. No, I don’t want them to close it down.”

McHardy, a cherished husband, father, and friend, was reported missing at Dean’s Blue Hole in Long Island over the weekend. His body was discovered around 5.45pm on Monday. Police and members of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force used an unmanned submersible drone to conduct a systematic search of the area, revealing the body at a depth of 600 feet below sea level.

Known for his fun-loving spirit, McHardy brought joy to everyone around him, according to Ms Headley, his eldest daughter.

“His favourite thing to me, whenever I would ask for anything, he’d always tell me, wait till Friday. It was just a joke between us, but when Friday came, whatever it was I asked for, he would give it to me.

Typical daddy’s girl, even at 32 years old, I can call my daddy and ask him for anything, and he would do it,” she said.

Ms Headley said the family is reeling from the unexpected loss. She described their disbelief when he was missing for the first few hours.

“This is a person you just missed the instant he’s not there,” she said. “Yes, I was hopeful, but I feel like reality set in long before the body was found. It was really just about being able to have his body to properly say goodbye and honour his memory.”

The family recently buried another loved one. Ms Headley’s grandmother died on McHardy’s birthday, July 13, and he went missing on the day of his mother-in-law’s burial.

McHardy’s wife, Roseanna McHardy, is especially grappling with the loss after recently burying her mother on the same day her husband went missing. McHardy was the love of her life, and they had been married for 26 years.

Authorities have said they are communicating with the family and deep-water specialists to develop a safe plan for bringing the body to the surface without compromising the safety of the divers.