This was supposed to be an exciting time for Heather Dumas' family. Her son just graduated from high school and received his associate's degree from Weber State at the same time as he looks to continue his education further in the fall. Her daughter wants to be a ski racer just like her mom.
"Heather was a superwoman. She loved her family; she was so proud of her son and daughter," said Dumas' mom, Beverly Beasley. "They're a very close family, they did everything together, and they were supposed to be in Hawaii this next week."
Instead, her family is now feeling the indescribable pain of the loss of their mother. The 43-year-old passed away Tuesday night after she went into cardiac arrest while on a dive at the Homestead Crater with her son who was getting scuba-certified.
"She'd already finished her refresher course and all of a sudden she signaled for him to go up. She shot up and I don't know if she got to the dock, but she came up, they grabbed her and did CPR," Beasley said.
Despite CPR efforts, Dumas later passed away. Beasley says the cause of her cardiac arrest is unknown at this time.
"She had so much to live for, so much to accomplish," Beasley said. "Everybody who knows when I called, they said, 'What?!' Every single person I called, nobody could believe it because she was very fitness conscious, very health conscious, ate very well and it's a puzzle to all of us."
Beasley describes her daughter as a successful and ambitious woman. She was part of many communities but was most widely known for her passion for skiing and lifestyle coaching. Beasley shared one of Dumas' last coaching emails with FOX 13 News. In the email, Dumas reflected on helping people make big changes in their lives because she was all about encouraging others to make the most of their precious time.
"Everybody just admired her, and that's a good thing for me but it's very difficult," Beasley said. "What we're going to do? Not much, just move on, but you'll always have those wonderful memories."
