Diver dies in 40 Fathom Grotto - Feb 2008

[Seadeuce]

Remember a good dive I had there with Marty Dunwoody some years ago. Is she still active at the Grotto?

Too nice a place to die in, all those sea biscuits and sand dollars.

Sad to hear of the recent tragedy.


Seadeuce

 

[irishsquid]

This was indeed a sad and tragic event. The individual that passed and the instructor are both from a local LDS here. I don't personally know the victim, though I do know of her; from talking with her daughter, who works at the LDS. I do not know any details, other than what a close friend of the instructor told me last night, which I won't post since its second hand info and can't be verified. There wasn't any negative comments made about the actions of anyone involved, and the instructor is devastated to say the least. The dive shop is like a family, and all are taking it pretty hard. The daughter was telling me just over a week ago how excited her mother was; taking the tech course, getting comfortable, relaxed, and more confident. From what I was told, the victim's husband was also on site at the time of the accident. Maybe more information will be released later. The funeral was just this past Saturday, so emotions are still running really low. It's so sad that so many people from 1 shop could take such a kick to the groin in just a few seconds. Hopefully we can learn what happened and maybe it is preventable in the future. If anymore info is passed on here and verifiable, I'll pass it on.

 

[irishsquid]

Latest news is the victim apparently suffered either a stroke or heart attack. This is from an individual who had conversation with one of the persons close to the victim. BUMMER!

 

[octotat]

I just learned of this incident yesterday from one of the instructors at the LDS where Becky's daughter works. I am physically ill from hearing this news. I've only dived with this wonderful woman once, but I did take the CPR/first aid class with her and would routinely see her at the shop. The magnitude of this loss to the people in her life can not be stated with words.

 

[Willie]

Visibility here is not great. I've mostly seen it at about 10 feet

I took a couple of courses there in Dec 2006 and the vis was fantastic, around 25-30' I would estimate. I regretted not having time to get a fun dive in after the courses were over since we were always so busy that sight-seeing was not an option.

Willie

 

[nauifins73]

I know the family and LDS. I know they are devastated. My LDS, this LDS and Becky's family were on Ambergris Caye last March. I so regret not getting the opportunity to visit more with her.

 

[ScubaAddictedLisa]

This is very,very sad!!

Is diving there considered any more risky than other places, like open ocean or lake water? Could it be anything to do with being in an underground sinkhole? (sorry, newer diver here, and maybe these are stupid questions.)

 

[MikeFerrara]

This is very,very sad!!

Is diving there considered any more risky than other places, like open ocean or lake water? Could it be anything to do with being in an underground sinkhole? (sorry, newer diver here, and maybe these are stupid questions.)

It is a sink. It's about 240 ft deep (hence the name), ok vis and no current. It's smaller at the top so it is possible to get some rock over your head but, as far as I know, they don't allow any diving in the cave.

It's a popular place to conduct technical training so not everyone diving there has experience with those depths.

 

[Colliam7]

Is diving there considered any more risky than other places, like open ocean or lake water? Could it be anything to do with being in an underground sinkhole?

A reasonable question. Diving at 40 Fathom, except for the depth, is actually quite straightforward, and is probably less risky, for the most part, than ocean diving, or lake diving. There are no currents and no thermoclines. The visibility on that day was OK, at about 25', and the event occurred at a location where there was no overhead obstruction.

 

[Scuba Cowboy]

I was at 40 Fathom the day this incident happened. I was doing my Grotto Guide Orientation dive and left before this accident happened. When I got back to my hotel, I heard about it on the news. Very, very saddening. Went back a couple days later to do my first guided dives with students and heard more of what happened. I won't post the info either as it was a second hand but reliable source. I think it is up to the principals involved to post, and maybe they will after the greiving period. In accidents like this its hard to ever know exactly what happened since no one was with the victim when she died. From what I heard, the instructor did his best in the situation and my deepest condolenses go out to him, the victims family and friends.
Accidents like this do cause me to rethink how I, as a Tech Instructor, should conduct this level of training. This is very demanding, task loading, advanced training and unless I have very qualified assistants, I'm now thinking one-on-one is the best way to conduct these courses. I'm not saying it can't be done with higher ratio's, but I think for me, thats probably the way its gunna be in the future.