Final moments of young Aussie who drowned in Thailand as his younger sister reveals the reason he was overseas with his mates
The sister of a young Aussie tourist who drowned in Thailand has revealed her older sibling had been celebrating with mates after finishing an intense training camp.
Corey Walsh, 22, died last Tuesday after diving off a fishing charter boat while intoxicated near the tourist island of Koh Racha Yai, south of Phuket.
A week after Mr Walsh drowned, his younger sister Charleigh told news.com.au he was with six of his best friends after completing a Muay Thai training camp they had been preparing for since January 1.
'We shared our whole childhood together. He was very caring and protective, as big brothers are,' Charleigh said.
'Corey would light up any room he walked into. He had a strong mindset and saw mistakes as growth. He will always be my best friend, his passing has left a void that cannot be filled.
'There was an unspoken loyalty that survived every argument, it was stronger than anything. Nothing was stronger than the love we had for each other.'
Mr Walsh's intense training meant he had been sober for more than five months and he had just completed the first two weeks of his trip before his death.
His five friends had arrived three days earlier and planned to celebrate his training camp with a chartered fishing trip.
It is believed Mr Walsh, from Frankston in south-east Melbourne, was dragged underwater by strong currents before he drowned.
Mr Walsh, who was due to return home this weekend, was pulled from the water unconscious and unresponsive, with tour conductors issuing a distress call for emergency services.
Charleigh described her brother as 'very outgoing'.
'He was a bit of a s*** stirrer,' she said.
'He had his own personal slang. He'd come home and ask how your day was and if you said you'd had a bad day he'd ask you "are you loving it" over and over until you caved.
'He'd go to work on a Monday morning when the boys were all tired and he'd go around and say "are you loving it" to get under their skin.'
A number of Mr Walsh's friends got 'forever loving it' tattooed on them in his memory.
Charleigh said she was at work last week when she received the devastating news that her only sibling had died.
'I was at work on Tuesday and it was around 7pm. My parents had received a call from one of his friends that was with him,' she said.
'We're still waiting for his friends to get home to learn more about it. It doesn't feel real. I'm still in shock.
'The support we are receiving from family, friends and dozens of people we have never met has been helping us cope. We are so grateful for everyone.'
A GoFundMe was set up to help Mr Walsh's family with funeral costs and other additional expenses.
As of Tuesday morning it had raised just over $14,000 with the target set at $20,000.
'This is for a Corey, a young man who struck a lot of people's hearts for being a kind, caring and just a beautiful soul,' the GoFundMe page read.
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