A wrongful-death lawsuit has been filed by the family of 12-year-old Dylan Harrison, who died during a junior scuba diving training course in Texas in August 2025. The legal action targets major scuba training agencies, dive operators, and individual professionals connected to the fatal incident, alleging systemic safety failures contributed to her death.
Allegations of Negligence and Safety Oversights
Dylan’s parents filed a 40-page civil complaint that claims shortcomings in training standards, supervision, and safety oversight played a role in what should have been a routine entry-level dive. The lawsuit names multiple defendants, including the well-known training organisations PADI and NAUI, the dive centre involved, the facility where the course took place, and individual staff members.
According to the lawsuit, Dylan was participating in a junior open-water course at The Scuba Ranch, a training lake near Terrell, Texas, on 16 August 2025. Despite being paired with another student of the same age, the complaint alleges that key safety tasks — such as confirming correct weighting before the dive — were not properly performed by her instructor.
Instructor Fitness and Supervision Questions
Central to the case are allegations concerning the conduct and condition of Dylan’s instructor on the day of the incident. The complaint contends that he was severely sleep-deprived, having worked long hours across multiple shifts prior to teaching the scuba course. This, the suit says, may have impaired his ability to properly supervise the students.
The divemaster assigned to help supervise the group had reportedly promised Dylan’s family that he would not take his eyes off her underwater. However, documents in the filing suggest that he later claimed to have lost his own dive computer when asked to produce it as evidence.
Delayed Emergency Response and Poor Visibility
Dylan was last seen at the training site shortly after descending toward a shallow training platform. Emergency services were not contacted until around 15 minutes after she was last observed. Based on remaining air-supply readings, the lawsuit asserts that she could have been alive and breathing underwater for some minutes, alone and unable to find her way back to the surface amid poor visibility conditions.
Evidence Handling and Investigative Concerns
The handling of dive-related evidence is also under scrutiny. The lawsuit notes that critical dive-computer data from participants was neither collected nor analysed in the aftermath of the incident. Family lawyers further allege that local law enforcement closed their investigation quickly, potentially before all material evidence could be examined.
Adding to concerns about how safety is viewed within parts of the dive training community, historical footage has surfaced showing the owner of the dive centre involved making seemingly dismissive comments about past student fatalities during a 2017 staff meeting.
Industry Response and Next Steps
At the time of reporting, neither PADI nor NAUI had publicly responded to the lawsuit. The dive centre at the heart of the incident — ScubaToys — has since closed permanently. The complaint highlights broader questions about the shared responsibility of training agencies, local operators, and individual instructors in safeguarding young divers.
A preliminary hearing date for the case has not yet been announced.
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