Tragedy as Texas boy, 14, watches his father die in scuba diving accident THREE WEEKS after his mother died from cancer

A 14-year-old boy lost his father in a tragic diving accident just three weeks after his mother died from a battle with cancer.

Since his son David was eight years old, Kenneth Lowery had taken him on annual scuba trips to Florida.

The Texas native never abandoned this tradition, even after David, known as Xander, lost his mother to cancer a few weeks ago. Kenneth and Xander’s mother had separated, but the two remained close until her death.

The father and son chartered a boat and set off for the dark waters off Juno Beach.

But after both crashed into the ocean, only Xander resurfaced.

“He called his big brother and told him he was standing there and he thought his dad had drowned,” Xander’s grandmother Kelly Bezayiff said. WPTV.

“I guess they went out on a boat. They went down. He knew there was trouble and he tried to get his dad back up and he couldn’t get him back up,” Bezayiff said.

Kenneth Lowery pushed his son ‘up towards the top’ and Xander swam up as fast as he could.

“When he came up, he looked back and his father wasn’t there,” Bezayiff said.

According to authorities, the Republic IV charter boat sailing through Jupiter Dive Center took Xander and his father on a trip around 10 p.m.

At 9.50 they both went into the water.

Only a few minutes later, Xander reappeared, calling for help.

About 10 minutes later, Jupiter police and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived on scene and searched the waters in the region of Captain Mike’s Reef.

Through their combined efforts, authorities found Lowery’s body.

At the time of his death, Lowery was scuba certified and in the process of becoming a diving instructor.

Bezayiff, Lowery’s former mother-in-law, remembered him as a great father and a good husband.

‘He was phenomenal for my daughter when she was dying. He was there for her even though they weren’t together anymore, Bezayiff said. She continued: ‘I mean, he was just that type of guy.’

Bezayiff noted that with Lowery’s death, Xander had lost both of his parents in the space of three weeks.

When she received the call about Xander’s father, she was in Texas.

She acted immediately.

“I just started coming to Florida.”