Bride-to-be dies in Micronesia diving trip

[DandyDon]

BBC NEWS | England | South Yorkshire | Bride-to-be dies in diving trip

A bride-to-be who died while diving in the South Pacific is believed to have suffered the bends.

Jayne Bloom, 38, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, died after diving off Chuuk, an island in Micronesia in June.

Her inquest at Doncaster Coroners Court has been opened and adjourned. On a diving website her fiancee, Jeff Keep, said they dived 187ft (56m).

She later lost consciousness on their boat. The couple had been due to marry on the island on 5 July.

Nothing wrong

Mr Keep, from Reddish near Stockport, Greater Manchester, said his partner had initially been chatting on the boat about their "great dive" but soon complained her vision had gone, and then fell unconscious.

He added Ms Bloom was taken to hospital and put into a decompression chamber with the help of the couple's friend, a cardio-vascular anaesthesiologist.

While waiting for Ms Bloom to be taken for treatment in Australia she stopped breathing and died.

Mr Keep said three experienced divers had done a full examination of his fiancée's equipment and found nothing wrong with it.

Ms Bloom herself was said to be an experienced diver.

Truk Lagoon, where the couple dived, is a prime location for diving.

It has numerous wrecks including Japanese warships which were sunk there in the World War II.

 

[Beachlover]

I hate to hear things like this.One can only say a prayer for the loved ones of the victim.Sad.

 

[*Floater*]

Jeff Keep's account of the incident is at rebreatherworld: A report of the loss of Jayne Bloom - Rebreather World

He said it was a normal rebreather (meg) tech dive. Normal ascent, no skipped deco (correct GF30/85), no problems/stress/current, no faults with equipment, got on boat thinking all was fine, then lost sight and it was downhill from there...

Of course something could turn up to explain this, but sometimes people get hit despite doing the "correct" deco.

 

[DandyDon]

Of course something could turn up to explain this, but sometimes people get hit despite doing the "correct" deco.

I saw a lady bent after 3 gentle Cozumel dives - as "undeserved" as one can imagine, and I was her bud on the first 2 - not a hint of any problem at all. Later she ordered a drink at the hotel, passed out, woke up days later in Miami ICU. DAN and the top doc in Miami were clueless on why it hit - just did. She's okay now, but wow...!

 

[Scubadaddy]

Sad news indeed.

Is it common for DCS to hit divers who dive within their limits/tables and follow the necessary precautions?

 

[maged_mmh]

.....On a diving website her fiancee, Jeff Keep, said they dived 187ft (56m).

how did they even think about going that deep?
very sad indeed, thoughts with the family

 

[BMW]

Sad news indeed.

Is it common for DCS to hit divers who dive within their limits/tables and follow the necessary precautions?

In "Diving Science" by Strauss and Aksenov, I read that for SCUBA in general that there about 2-3 incidents for every 10000 dives. The 2-3 cases are about evenly split between "deserved" and "undeserved" cases. I think "undeserved" means having followed the tables and/or computer.

So 1-2 DCS incidents per 10000 dives is/are undeserved. Can't comment on this specific case, but it would be interesting to know if the victim was overtired or dehydrated, or some other contributing factor was at play.

 

[DandyDon]

Sad news indeed.

Is it common for DCS to hit divers who dive within their limits/tables and follow the necessary precautions?

Oh no, not common at all, very rare indeed.

• They were not recreational diving within limits tho, having dived to 187 ft;
• And as Floater added, they were diving Rebreathers.

I don't know what their dive planning and all was like. From the brief article I posted no one seemed to have found anything wrong. In some cases a contribution factor of dehydration is suggested, but in some we often use the word "undeserved" - or more accurately "unexplained." They do happen but are very rare.

The purpose of this forum is to learn from the misfortunes of accidents - others and our own, but sometimes we never know.

 

[underwasser bolt]

how did they even think about going that deep?
very sad indeed, thoughts with the family

going "that deep" with proper gear and training is NOT reckless. more dangerous than rec diving, maybe, but not reckless. i have dived to 150 feet, stayed within the NDL limits of my computer, did multiple safety stops (decompression) on the way up, and have been fine. I could do the same thing 100 times more and be fine, and with varying conditions the 101'st time may be a hit. all sports like diving are a roll of the dice. we simply choose the risk level we are willing to accept. if one believes otherwise they are still rolling the dice, but they are naive.

 

[maged_mmh]

even with the risk you're willing to accept; what they did just 4 meters away from the tec limit of 60mt.
i would consider this pushing the limits