1,000 Ways to Die: Is Diving One of Them?

[Aaron528]

Trace, it's almost as much fun listening to you pontificate here as it is whenever I've run into you at Dutch Springs. The original post opens up "many cans of worms" (feed them all to the fish!).

After reading all the posts of this thread, I realized nobody commented on the title. That trashy show is about entertainment drawn from stupidity. It focuses on people engaging in unbelievably jackass activities and getting killed for it. Wouldn't we feel the same seeing a vignette of someone strapping on a mask and an oxygen tank with a tygon tube they got from their local welding supply, so they can see what's got the vent stuck at the bottom of their swimming pool? Is that "scuba diving?" NO...

There are some nimrods who get certified in scuba and give the rest of us a bad reputation. FWIW, I think that following safe procedures and diving responsibly is the best any of us can do. If sh** happens anyway, it's no different than having an accident while driving safely or crossing the street on a green light...my number just came up.

 

[novicediver]

Scuba diving is indeed one of myriad ways to die. It is a risky activity that requires specialized equipment and training. We can mitigate risk, but we will never be able to mitigate that risk to zero and unfortunately people will die participating in it.

 

[Scott L]

Interesting. I remember that when I was in that age group I thought much more about risk and death than I do now. Heck, I was afraid of high speed, motorcycles, great whites, flying in aircraft, lightning, etc. I dove far more conservatively back then (probably never exceeding 100 ft as I remember).

Today, I no longer fear many of those things (at least not the more irrational ones). I still don't ride motorcycles or drive at high speed (neither my 23-year old Toyota Tercel or my golf cart can achieve them)... and (after two near misses) I still look for cover during lightning storms. However, I no longer have my irrational fear of great whites nor of what some would consider "risky" diving. Knowing that my time may be drawing to a close has allowed me to live my remaining years with a bit more zest.

I agree with this assessment. I am also more prone to increasing the risk factor having already lived an action packed life during my lifetime (51 years old). I would not feel as horrified or cheated if I knew my time was quickly drawing to a close while diving or otherwise...

 

[DiveNav]

Deep and introspective....

yours too

........ Some people get their adrenaline rush from diving; I get mine from riding powerful motorcycles at ridiculous speeds ......

Me too .... I used to :depressed:

..... I didn't push the limits of my bike .....

Me neither .... I only pushed MY OWN limits .... and I crashed badly .... destroyed the bike and almost killed myself ... and all it took was a fraction of a second.

Ascent (when uncontrolled) is the part of diving that scares me most.

Alberto (aka eDiver)

 

[Airleron]

My husband and I had a motorcycle accident 2 months ago....we were going 10 mph through my little downtown area at night and a car backed over us, we both went down. I always wear a dorky helmet, hubby does not. He sustained a head injury, broken ribs, clavicle, eye socket, nose, and knee. I sustained a 3rd degree burn on my thigh. When I crawled over his bike I saw him laying on the pavement in a puddle of blood, unconscious, I was convinced he was dead. I will never be able to erase that scene from my memory.

He's almost fully recovered except for some residual knee pain, and dizziness. His clavicle and ribs will take a little longer to heal also. As soon as his dizziness resolves, we'll be back in the water. And when we can, we'll get right back on and ride.

Every diving death affects me on a personal level, but I try to learn something from it and move on.

My fav quote: Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. (from Shawshank Redemption)

 

[The Chairman]

This is a great thread and a good read.

I completely agree with Trace. There are a few who simply LOVE to assign blame even where is none to assign. Why? They have a hard believing that they could be next. If they describe the victim vehemently as an accident waiting to happen, then they are telling the world, and more importantly themselves, that somehow THEY are immune to making such a mistake. It's the "It can't happen to me mentality".

A lot of diving is nothing more than a SWAG and we don't fully understand the science. People talk about "undeserved hits" as if some hits ARE deserved. In reality, these are better described as "unexplained" and they represent a part of the SWAG where we run out of science and embrace the guessing aspect. A friend of mine was bent recently in Truk. I had people tell me that "he was an accident waiting to happen" and that they somehow knew he was going to get bent. Well, duh! If you dive enough, the odds are against you: you're going to get bent!!! Hydration levels, physical fitness, simple mistakes and all sorts of things including a cosmic fudge factor get entered into that SWAG. No one is immune to it. You're a fool if you think you are.

As in any sport, people are going to get hurt. Getting bent is nothing more than a sport injury. Also, there are certain precautions to take to not get hurt, but mistakes are inherent in any human endeavor. While most mistakes are minor and represent only an inconvenience, others are incredibly tragic in nature. It's great as a community that we discuss ALL of the mistakes and not try to pint the blame tail on the donkey. After all, assigning blame is counter productive, and usually ends in flaming and personality meltdowns. Once that happens, discussion and learning come to an end. You might think you are winning the debate, but in reality: everyone loses! Here's a good rule of thumb. If you are constantly justifying your words with something similar to "I call 'em as I see 'em", then this is written TO YOU. Stop the blame game. Just stop. You're not helping anyone at all, except maybe your ego.

So lets discuss the accidents, the incidents and the mistakes as we see them. But, and that's the problem with the world: Big Buts, But, let's leave out the need to flame, castigate, belittle, cajole or otherwise assign blame when discussing these mistakes. IOW, let the person who has never made a mistake be the first one to assign blame. The rest of us need to empathize with them and work to help them, or their loved ones, understand their mistakes.

 

[The Chairman]

How you die is irrelevent. How you live is what matters.

Bob, you and I are so alike it's scary. I think you're a bit uglier, but not by much.

I've taken a few risks in my life ... and not just in sports. Some of those things were thrilling ... others were just stupid. Some were things I remember with pride ... others I've tried hard to forget. But all of them defined who I am, and how I chose to live.

Of all the things written in this thread: I can relate most to this.

 

[FireInMyBones]

Death finds us all.

I could care less where I die, so long as I did so being a good example. My wife and I are ready when the time comes.

You do not have to agree with my beliefs, those I have found to be true, but I find myself remembering a quote:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

I am not afraid to die. I will get to meet my Creator and the lover of my soul. As long as I live, I have the opportunity to spread the love of Christ.

 

[FireInMyBones]

How you die is irrelevent. How you live is what matters.

I've taken a few risks in my life ... and not just in sports. Some of those things were thrilling ... others were just stupid. Some were things I remember with pride ... others I've tried hard to forget. But all of them defined who I am, and how I chose to live.

I don't want to die in bed. I've watched my mom wasting away for nearly two years now ... and I gotta believe she's in hell, bound to a bed, unable to even get up to go to the bathroom. Please God, don't let me go out like that.

I don't think about dying when I prepare for a dive. I try my best to understand the risks, and prepare for dealing with them as best I can. I acknowledge that there's a chance that any dive could be fatal ... but it's far less than the risk I take every day I get on the highway and head to work. So I'm willing to take it.

Life's about risk ... and nobody gets out of it without dying. So why worry about it. I'll go for the gusto...

I have always held this kind of mentality. You have to be realistic, but why let that crush your desire to live?

... Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, "Oh sh!t, he's awake!"

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I hope that as I continue to grow as a person that this will be me

 

[TSandM]

If I die diving, cast blame. If I got lost in a cave, remember that situational awareness was one of my weak points . . . Criticize me, and warn others who were told by their instructors that they had a problem, that they could come to the same end.

If I die on a tech dive, criticize my certification and the dive I was doing. If I was diving over my certification, point it out to other divers.

I make a whole bunch of decisions for myself, trying to make the risk assessments reasonable and rational. But they are not always the most conservative decisions I could make. I think they are okay. But if events prove me wrong . . . blame me. Insult me; say that no one could have been stupid enough to do what I did. If it makes someone else rethink the same decisions and go home to dinner safely, it will be well worth it.

I believe in Uncle Pug's "If I should die diving." Once I'm dead, I don't really care what is said about me, especially if it gives someone else pause.