Another CZM diving death Nov 21.

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Perhaps you missed this post. Her daughter said that the local Deputy Consulate is working with her dad there.

Thanks. Good to know the Deputy Consul is involved. I'm sure the Embassy in Mexico City was alerted right away and will be involved when and if it comes time for transport of the body, etc. Maybe they helped her get in touch with her dad if there was any difficulty there. I used to work at overseas diplomatic posts but was only involved once, and then only peripherally, in a case of an Am Cit dying overseas. I still want to believe the news was all wrong and we'll see her again. My wife and I used to dive. Never had a really bad incident, except one case in the Philippines when divers were let off the boat circling a small island counter-current so some of us ended up drifting away from the boat as we surfaced. There are obviously lots of questions regarding this case, including the buddy situation, but we don't know enough to make any conclusions. Even her physical condition, and any possible hidden conditions that may have contributed to her death (presumably the autopsy will answer those questions). There may always be some questions remaining. My main thoughts are with Richard and the members of their families back in the States. We were sure we'd see them both again next year. Life is so fragile. On Thanksgiving we're thankful we new Suzanne as long as we did.
 
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Again, my condolences to the family, friends, crew and other divers.

The account Dave posted is exactly what I was told as well. I know the dive guide that was leading the dive and he is a very well respected, professional diver on the island with years of training from recreational diving, to cave diving to tech diving. I do not question his abilities in the least nor can blame be put on him for this tragic accident. I have absolutely no doubt that had she (or any diver) had a problem during the dive within his site, he would have managed the problem as well or better than anyone I know.

Unfortunately, we will most likely never know what issue she faced and what prevented her from making it to the surface since she was alone. Without knowing that, the only real takeaway to learn from this tragic accident is to always stay with a buddy - do not dive alone or leave the dive group particularly if you are in a state of distress, discomfort, or not feeling well. Additionally, listen to your body and if you don't feel comfortable with a dive site or dive plan ahead of time, call the dive and stay on the boat. If you have to abort a dive during the dive, always ascend with at least one buddy.

Rest in peace Suzanne - it looks like there were many people who loved you and the diving world will mourn your passing!

Samoi, we actually have a US Consulate on the island as well as one in Playa del Carmen who handle these things and assist the families.
 
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My condolences to Suzanne's friends and family.

I'm currently on Cozumel and diving with the op that this accident occurred, but was not present (I was on a different boat). I promised to not add to the speculation, but I do feel obligated to correct any inaccuracies.

1) She was traveling with her husband, but he is not a diver and was not her buddy. I don't know if she had a buddy.

2) She did not decide at the last minute to not penetrate the wreck. Although an experienced diver, she did not like overhead environments and did not plan to penetrate the wreck, but to planned to stay on the outside. Similarly, my understanding is that she did not do swim-throughs and went over the reef when other divers did swim-throughs, on other dives.

3). Her equipment was recovered and there was plenty of air, so the accident did not involve an OOA situation.

We can debate the wisdom of solo diving, but many experienced divers choose to do so, to varying degrees (myself included). I travel by myself and am good with my air (always the last person back on the boat) and I don't want an "insta-buddy" who might be an air hog and limit my dives. I choose to not be responsible for anyone else and choose to be solely responsible for myself. To reduce my risks, I keep my gear in immaculate condition, religiously check my air every few minutes during a dive, and carry a 6 cu ft pony when I feel it necessary. I also ride a Suzuki sport bike, skydive, and working towards my pilot's license. Diving (even solo) is the least risky thing I do. I don't want the "buddy-police" telling me what to do. I don't try to second-guess anyone's risk tolerance (or Suzanne's in this instance).

We will likely never know what Suzanne was thinking when making her decisions and we may never know exactly what caused the accident. When whatever answers from the investigation are made available to Suzanne's family, it should be up to them to decide to post them, as her daughter-in-law is following this board. In the meantime, I hope we can all keep the speculation to a minimum.

Rest in peace Suzanne.
 
I do not ride motorcycles or scooters. I have plenty of skydiving experience and I am an active pilot. I also like ziplines and rappelling.

Suzanne sounds similar to me. I have done swim throughs but often avoid them...preferring to swim around or over the reef area. I also am essentially a solo diver within a group.

With all that relevant or meaningless info stated, I have been thinking about this situation. I only know what has been reported which includes inconsistencies on her plan for that dive and whether her husband was on the dive. Also reported was a "ripping" current which if true may have made staying outside the wreck difficult.

Let's imagine a group about to enter the wreck. One diver does not and starts to ascend for unknown reason. Personally I have no problem going up alone. I have done it before when my dive computer was nearing a deco obligation. I let the DM know and I slowly ascend. The huge difference is that I am above the group and they can still monitor me periodically if they choose to. We meet up again at the safety stop and surface.

In this case, that will not happen since they are entering a wreck and with the current the ascending diver will probably be out of sight anyway within minutes. I don't know protocols and policies of all dive shops but allowing a solo diver to drift away seems to be a bad idea.

If she had a buddy, at least two going up offers better options in the rare event of a distress situation. Even then, you have two people adrift unsupervised. For newbies reading this, this is not an emergency. You slowly ascend. Make suitable stops for outgassing and surface after listening to make sure that no boats are near. If you have a safety sausage, inflate it and wait for a passing boat to pick you up. You should be able to do this safely and without fear for your safety.

But I will assume that most dive shops would not want this to happen if it can be avoided. Hence, my after the fact (hindsight enabled) opinion is that if she was observed to be ascending, this dive should have been aborted. I may be wrong as far as how dive ops view this scenario. Perhaps she was really experienced, informed the DM that she was ascending, and the DM knew that she was well capable of doing so and waved her along.
 
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With all that relevant or meaningless info stated, I have been thinking about this situation. I only know what has been reported which includes inconsistencies on her plan for that dive. Also reported was a "ripping" current which if true may have made staying outside the wreck difficult.

I have not dove the C-53. However, I have dove the two other wrecks, the C-55 & C-58. All three wrecks are identical. All are in places known to have pretty good currents. All have bouys attached to them. Staying on the outside of the wreck can be a problem, but generally not, since the wreck itself provides shelter from the current. Ascents are done on the line, so being swept away is not generally a problem either. For an experienced diver to ignore the line and do a free ascent while still (according to a post in this thread) having plenty of air would seem to me to be a hint that she was having some other problem. At 60, that could be any number of medical issues, having nothingto do with the dive itself. We all know the most common is heart attack, but there's no way to have any real clue until the autopsy is done. And even then, we are by no means assured that anything definitive will be found.
 
i got myself tangled up pretty good in some fishing line last may on san juan. rebeltodd, a frequent poster here, got me out. would i have gotten out if i had been alone? i don't know.
 
Samoi, I don't know how repatriation works. I'm sure the Embassy is involved, yes - working with the local Consular Agent in Cozumel, and I guess I erred in referencing her as a Deputy Consulate as the office is listed as an extension of the Consulate in Merida at Consulates / Agencies | Embassy of the United States Mexico City, Mexico. However they do handle such, I'm sure the family is getting help. I'm guessing that she had DAN dive insurance and if so they will also assist as well as pay those expenses, and/or Trip Insurance if they had that. I did exchange a couple of emails with the daughter after someone posted the hotel phone number here, which she hadn't found yet, and mentioned the insurance assistance as well.

I also do not know what went wrong. It seems from recent posts that she didn't want to go in the wreck with the rest, but we don't know if she was actually buddied with anyone. Group dives in Coz are often just that, no buddy pairs at times. I object to the idea of anyone separating or ascending alone generally, but we don't know enough here to say.
 
Were they at a depth from which she would have had to stop for a spell before continuing on to service? I thought I read something like 40-50'. It's been a while since I went diving so can't recall the exact requirements. If it was an ascent from, say 30' (emergency ascent depth), then ascending without a buddy might be okay, as I recall. I never did an ascent with a decompression stop when I wasn't accompanied, but I also was never as experienced a diver as Suzanne was. I think Richard use to dive but hadn't for a while and may have been back at the hotel

One post said that group dives in Cozumel commonly did not use a buddy system. That struck me as strange, especially when one diver, according to some here, already stated an intention not to go into the wreck. As one rightly pointed out, there could be a range of medical conditions that could have contributed to the accident. The autopsy may or may not discover this conclusively. And, of course, even those results are for the authorities and Richard and other family members to know.
 
Samoi, I don't know how repatriation works. I'm sure the Embassy is involved, yes - working with the local Consular Agent in Cozumel, and I guess I erred in referencing her as a Deputy Consulate as the office is listed as an extension of the Consulate in Merida at Consulates / Agencies | Embassy of the United States Mexico City, Mexico. However they do handle such, I'm sure the family is getting help. I'm guessing that she had DAN dive insurance and if so they will also assist as well as pay those expenses, and/or Trip Insurance if they had that. I did exchange a couple of emails with the daughter after someone posted the hotel phone number here, which she hadn't found yet, and mentioned the insurance assistance as well.

I also do not know what went wrong. It seems from recent posts that she didn't want to go in the wreck with the rest, but we don't know if she was actually buddied with anyone. Group dives in Coz are often just that, no buddy pairs at times. I object to the idea of anyone separating or ascending alone generally, but we don't know enough here to say.

A Deputy Consul could be the #2 person at the Consulate in Merida. Cozumel apparently has a "Consular Agency," staffed by a Consular Agent, typically a local national, who is the point of contact for Embassy/Consulate activities there, but who would not actually be an American Foreign Service Officer. Based on my limited experienced, I believe a U.S. officer from the Consulate, if not the actual Embassy, would routinely be sent to the scene of an American citizen's death.

No buddies on the dives? That would have made me nervous back in my diving days. I do admit that I wasn't the best person to be buddied with, since I was an air hog, and my buddy might have to end their dive earlier than they wanted due to me.
 
n.

We can debate the wisdom of solo diving, but many experienced divers choose to do so, to varying degrees (myself included). I travel by myself and am good with my air (always the last person back on the boat) and I don't want an "insta-buddy" who might be an air hog and limit my dives. I choose to not be responsible for anyone else and choose to be solely responsible for myself. To reduce my risks, I keep my gear in immaculate condition, religiously check my air every few minutes during a dive, and carry a 6 cu ft pony when I feel it necessary. I also ride a Suzuki sport bike, skydive, and working towards my pilot's license. Diving (even solo) is the least risky thing I do. I don't want the "buddy-police" telling me what to do. I don't try to second-guess anyone's risk tolerance (or Suzanne's in this instance).

That, of course, is your choice. I am lucky to be married to a woman who is also a diver and whose skills and air consumption are closely matched with mine. We are all ultimately responsible for our own safety in the water, but I am happy to have someone with me with whom I can share the risks associated with diving and whom I can trust to be there with assistance should I require it. Reading these threads I am struck by how in many of these situations a diver has gone out on his/her own and met with disaster, and because of that, what happened to them may never be fully known. Whether the presence of a buddy would have prevented the accidents or not is, of course, one of the unknowns, but I won't be diving without one. YMMV.
 

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