Pensacola / Orange Beach Diver Down

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Hetland

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Messages
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Location
Gulf of Mexico
# of dives
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Made it back to the dock today, and someone said they heard a distress call from the Down Under boat. They also mentioned the crew was doing CPR on an unresponsive diver. Anyone have more information they can share?
 
Made it back to the dock today, and someone said they heard a distress call from the Down Under boat. They also mentioned the crew was doing CPR on an unresponsive diver. Anyone have more information they can share?

I await the same information. It was not in any internet news this morning. I was diving out of Destin and could hear the Mobile Coast Guard side of the conversation. They gave the accident victim's name, which I won't mention here. I also checked the Pensacola Fishing Forum. . . 4th hand info says the diver did not make it.
 
Thanks for the info Stone. Did you hear what location they were diving?

Location was not mentioned, but a first hand witness on a local forum said the diver did not make it.

---------- Post added June 23rd, 2013 at 12:26 PM ----------

Location was not mentioned, but a first hand witness on a local forum said the diver did not make it.

First hand report from local forum says boat was on the "Navy Tug". Second dive after diving the "Lu Lu".

We should see local coverage/reporting today.
 
Location was not mentioned, but a first hand witness on a local forum said the diver did not make it.

---------- Post added June 23rd, 2013 at 12:26 PM ----------



First hand report from local forum says boat was on the "Navy Tug". Second dive after diving the "Lu Lu".

We should see local coverage/reporting today.

I knew him. He was a good friend of mine, an excellent diver. I was supposed to make that trip but I couldn't. He had two great friends on board with him. RIP Larry!
 
Location was not mentioned, but a first hand witness on a local forum said the diver did not make it.

---------- Post added June 23rd, 2013 at 12:26 PM ----------



First hand report from local forum says boat was on the "Navy Tug". Second dive after diving the "Lu Lu".

We should see local coverage/reporting today.

I knew him. He was a good friend of mine, an excellent diver. I was supposed to make that trip but I couldn't. He had two great friends on board with him. RIP Larry!

Wow very sorry to hear that! What a sad day. There will be a lot of talk on hear about what happened. Some true and some speculation.
Do you know what happened?
 
On another forum, it was stated:

Diver's buddy pointed out a fish (diver was a photographer). When buddy turned to check on diver again, diver was gone. Buddy began search.

At about the same time, unknown to buddy, diver surfaced unconscious. Boat crew immediately got diver on board, and life-saving procedures were put into effect. There was at least one MD, and RN on the vessel, and they led resuscitation efforts, which included CPR and O2 delivery.

Calls were made to the Coast Guard. Coast Guard boat met dive vessel on the way in.

Diver never regained consciousness.

Captain, crew, medical providers, and customers all performed at the highest possible level.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From this, I can take a wild guess that a medical occurred, which led to diver inflating and becoming positive. An uncontrolled ascent may have followed. If it was an equipment issue (my second guess), the proximity of his buddy might have provided support, where, a controlled ascent could have taken place. Of course anything is possible, and these are just my guesses.
 
I'm not holding my breath. Usually all we get is the radio chatter from the distress call, and maybe a report from someone else on the boat.

You may be correct. But, if the same incident occurred on the Oriskany, I am pretty sure it would have hit the TV news by now.
 
I have not spoke with anyone that was on the trip yet, so I do not have any answers. If I find out anything, I will post it. I do know that Larry was one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He was a Marine that served in Vietnam, had a zest for scuba diving that was infectious, loved life, and made friends everywhere he went. The last time I went diving with him was a couple of weeks ago, we dove a spring fed stock pond outside of Denton, Texas, where he lived. Any excuse to get wet was good enough for him. Prior to that, he and I traveled to Key Largo in May and dove the Spiegel Grove, the Thunderbolt in Marathon, and some reef sites. It was a great trip, and I'm glad we had that time together. It is hard to believe he is gone.
 
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