4/5/2010 Incident @ Avalon, Catalina

[DandyDon]

I don't know anything about the lady's experience level, much less what happened, but to be diving with a 14 yo son could be distracting. I see newish divers posting about going to Cozumel for the first time, or taking their newly certified kids and I try to encourage them to hire private DMs at least for a day or two.

Best wishes for the lady, the son, and everyone.

 

[dom262]

I don't know anything about the lady's experience level, much less what happened, but to be diving with a 14 yo son could be distracting. I see newish divers posting about going to Cozumel for the first time, or taking their newly certified kids and I try to encourage them to hire private DMs at least for a day or two.

Best wishes for the lady, the son, and everyone.

She actually is a pretty experienced diver. She was there with several people at the time of the accident that are also very experienced.

It is best not to speculate as to what happened and wait for factual statements. I have been told similar to the Capt as to what happened.

 

[DandyDon]

She actually is a pretty experienced diver. She was there with several people at the time of the accident that are also very experienced.

It is best not to speculate as to what happened and wait for factual statements. I have been told similar to the Capt as to what happened.

Thanks. As I said, I didn't know - and I don't mean to speculate about how it happened.

 

[drbill]

Unless something new has occured, she was at a hospital in LA as of yesterday morning.

Thanks, glad to hear that she is still with us and the rumor was not confirmed.

 

[Rjoline]

The lady who had the accident in Catalina on Monday was my fiancée, she is a dive master candidate and was diving with my 16 year old son who was doing his fourth dive for his advanced open water certification. I, also a dive master candidate was diving with my 12 year old daughter who was also doing her fourth dive for her Jr advanced open water.

Denise and my son we doing a photo dive and lost track of their position because of the heavy underwater growth in the dive park. When Denise discovered she was running low on air they made a controlled accent from 35 feet. Upon surfacing she had trouble inflating her BC. I suspect her upper dump valve pull line might have been caught under her BC strap. Since she was low on air she started using my sons octo while he helped support her and signaled for help. They then had trouble dropping her weights since her release buckles are not the best design when wearing heavy gloves.

When the dive instructor mentioned in this post arrived to help she had just lost conciseness. We still don’t know the cause, but a review of both computer logs doesn’t seem to indicate DCI. It could have been a heart attack, stroke, or possibly even drowning.

She is currently at UCLA medical center in intensive care. They have taken brain protective measures (cooling and chemically induced coma). We are not sure of the extent of the damage yet but are hopeful. If not for the quick action of the first instructor to respond, and the heroic action of our dive instructor who provided aggressive CPR until paramedics arrived she would not have had a chance.

Please give your prayers to Denise and your thanks to the dive professionals who came to her aid. My son and daughter are fine but extremely distraught.

 

[Saturation]

Appreciate your willingness to share the issue and wishing for the best.

 

[xcelratr]

Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery. Please know that we're thinking of her.

 

[CheddarChick]

Come on Denise.....People need you back with them.....I will keep you in my prayers....

 

[Capt.JimDavis]

Our prayers with her and with all her loved ones.

 

[canuck_downunder05]

All the best and I'm also hoping for a speed recovery for Denise! Stay strong!