Unknown Unconcious diver recovered at Scuba Park - Wendell, NC

[DandyDon]

Diver pulled unconscious from Wendell lake :: WRAL.com

A diver was pulled unconscious Monday from a lake in Wendell.

Before 10:15 a.m., a water rescue was reported in the 530 block of Old Quarry Road at the Mystery Lake Scuba Park.


The Wake County Sheriff's Office said a diver was pulled from a lake and transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

According to scanners, first responders were performing CPR on a person who was pulled from the water.

WRAL News crews arrived at the scuba lake at 11 a.m. The gate to get inside the park was closed, and the scene has cleared.

Radio traffic indicated the diver was a 65-year-old man who was unconscious for a long time.

"65-year-old male, retrieved from a local diver exhibition here in Wendell total time of unresponsiveness is about 30 minutes."



"This is not going to be a water rescue, they have him at the water's edge not breathing this is going to be a code."

An investigation is underway.

 

[telemonster]

https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/wake-county-news/diver-with-serious-injuries-after-water-rescue-on-old-quarry-road-in-wendell-sheriffs-office-says/

Passed away from injuries according to update.

 

[telemonster]

Was curious about this one since it's a park that has been on my radar as I have friends in Raleigh. Google search led to facebook post that indicated CCR diver, unit sent of for analysis and buddies believed it unfortunately was a medical event.

Cold water, heavy gear, lots of stress I am sure. Sorry to the friends and family.

 

[slimshady]

Seven months later.....Medical Examiner listed cause of death as Arterial Gas Embolism due to rapid ascent and missed deco obligation. The following is an anecdotal account of the accident for analysis. He was diving CCR with a steel LP 50 CF bailout cyl. Max depth was 103 FFW temp 50 F. He reached max depth at 7 min into the dive and remained at that depth for 9 minutes. No data is available on PO2. At 16 minutes into the dive he ascended to 85 feet. At 18 minutes it appears that he bailed out to onboard 3 liter DIL (BOV) based on pressure readings from his off board computer. He stayed off the loop (BOV) on the onboard 3 liter DIL for approximately 2 minutes and then went back on the loop (CCR) for a short time, maybe 20 seconds. At that point it appears that he bailed out to onboard 3 liter DIL again (BOV) and also inflated either his wing or drysuit from an offboard 2 liter bottle. At this point, 21 or 22 minutes into the dive he may have passed out and lost the loop. 30 seconds later he bagan a rapid ascent and reached the surface unresponse at 24 minutes also missing a 1 minute decompression stop at 20 feet. His off board bailout 50 cf steel bottle was untouched, still stowed and still full. Although cause of death is clear, the cause of the accident is not and we will never know what actially happened.

What I learned from this is that if I need to bailout, I will not go back on the loop. I think he suspected a problem, tried to analyze it, and passed out before he could get to offboard bailout. The unit was not flooded when he reached the surface so the loop was closed. I hope this helps others dive safer and helps prevents further incidents and accidents.

 

[Johnoly]

I hope this helps

Thank you for the detailed followup. We rarely get this information with most accidents.

 

[Snusmumrik]

Thanks for info, but for me - 1 min missed deco, uncontrollable ascent and "reached the surface unresponse" looks more like medical issues on depth.
Yes, it's a matter of discuss - is unit in working condition, are gases analysed, how old is sorb,
but if all ok - seems to be medical for me.

 

[slimshady]

Medical Examiner says nothing indicated medical during the autopsy. Unit examined and all good.

 

[Snusmumrik]

Medical Examiner says nothing indicated medical during the autopsy. Unit examined and all good.

My long-time buddy get wet drowned after (we presume) something like heart attack at depth.
60-years old, well-trained, good physical condition and all so on...
Unit examined, sorb, gases, bailout - all good.
Medica mortus says nothing indicated medical during the autopsy.
Only computers shows what happened - after slow pace to 40 meters and back he goes
straight up from 20 meters, missing 6 minutes stop at 6 meters.
O2 was manually added twice during ascent.
Diver was presume unconscious when surfacing, wing not inflated,
boat crew missed him after 2 minutes on surface.
Found next day on sea floor.