I had a feeling you were going to take that line. Well thats a fair comment Devon, but why would you not believe whats being said. Do you have any reason to suggest its not the truth? I do believe it is the truth, I believe the photos are legit.
I have several reasons, and I will share my observations - based only on what can be seen on the thread/s.
I would add that I have no personal interest in this issue, no vendetta and no axe to grind. I have never been to Lumba Lumba. I wasn't present at the accident. I've never met any of the parties involved. That means I hold no specific views on the incident, the quality of diving/safety at LL, or any other claim/accusation/defence made in any of the related threads. Frankly, I don't give a damn.
I only got interested in the thread when 'Dorien' made her appearance. Like many others, I strongly suspected that she was not genuine. I do not like dishonesty. In that respect, I am not concerning myself with the incident itself, merely the appearance of 'Dorien', and whether/if falsehood exists.... and what this might say about the nature of the dive operator concerned.
My thoughts, in a nut shell;
1) The 'Belgian victim' mysteriously appears on several scuba forums (all of which Ton is a member of) and posts the same comment onto each forum. That comment is highly supportive of Lumba Lumba; basically a glowing reference. No further posts are made by that person, but Ton immediately steps up on each forum to continue the 'defence'. The ultimate goal of the victim's post seems to be to quash any debate/criticism of Lumba Lumba on this
and other issues. That's unusual. One would expect a victim to share their side of the story, maybe even to defend the dive centre in an attempt to put the facts right.... but not to attempt to discredit observers/commenters who were analysing the issue and causes.
2) I, personally, find the tone and nature of the victim's post to be quite unnatural given the incident that happened and the injuries that were sustained. Whilst a victim might not decide that an operation was blame-worthy for their injuries, they are highly unlikely to be gushing with public praise and support either. The way that the victim introduces herself in the post, seems to hint that the message was written in the third-person and this is accidentally transfered in the phrasing. Thou doest protest too much....
3) The writing style of the 'Belgian victim' is remarkably simular to Ton's IMHO. Especially in regards to punctuation (use of comma) to break down sentences unnecessarily. Simularity of writing style seems unlikely from two separate writers, neither of whom speak English as their primary language.
4) Members of this, and other, forums have suspected sock-puppetry and asked for some form of clarification from the 'Belgian victim', but none has ever been forthcoming. Only the single initial post was made (an identical post that was cut&paste into multiple forums). If this woman felt
so strongly about the issue (
she did so, when she joined and posted into multiple forums), why has she not returned to provide undeniable evidence of her existence/identity.
5) How did the Belgian victim learn of the various forum threads (on multiple boards) discussing the matter? Did she spend her time searching hundreds of scuba forums in the uncanny
anticipation that this matter was being discussed? She wasn't a member of any of these forums before... only joining these forums
shortly after Ton had posted his lengthy defensive diatribe. The timing is amazing.
Of all the forums, in all the world... she just happened to appear on those.... right after Ton decided to make his public defence.
Spooky...
6) The photos of the 'victim', look distinctly asian in skin tone and hair growth. Did the victim get her legs waxed despite the open wounds? Also, the scaring seems to be at very different stages of healing. The cuts on the foot are still fresh and not sealed. They are small cuts, less than 1 month old. The cuts on the leg have healed completely and only scar discoloration remains... despite these scars indicating much larger/wider wounds. They look much older than 1 month. And yet, the photos were taken at the same time, same location? How is that possible? Furthermore, both photos indicate no changes in suntan, when the victim would have been bandaged. I
don't believe the photos are of a caucasian person. I
don't believe that the photos illustrate 2 wounds that occured at the same time/same incident. I
don't believe that the second photo indicates a recent wound.
7) Even if the photos were genuine, there are a dozen different reasons why LL would have photos of the victim's injury. Not least because of legal issues and the need to report the incident to the authorities and agencies concerned (including the dive agencies). The existence of photos
in now way confirms the authenticity of member 'Dorien' posts on the scuba forums.
The only conclusion I would make is that this whole incident has been a perfect illustration of a PR disaster for LL. Regardless of the original facts and events, the way this has been dealt with by LL has drawn huge amounts of attention, criticism and suspicion. It is a case-study in bad public relations. Unlike Hollywood... in the scuba diving industry, the phrase '
any press is good press', is
not valid. If there is an accident, whether blame-worthy or not, then honest assessment, remedial planning, open-mindedness and clear, honest communication with the community is the way to ensure that future accidents are avoided...and the community are reassured of this.
Having managed dive centres myself, I can honestly feel sympathy for the situation that Ton and his team have found themselves in. I have no doubt that he is passionate and committed to running the best dive centre that he can (
why else would any of us work in the scuba industry, if not for the passion?). When an accident happens, and the internet crucifixion begins, it is a terrible situation for the dive pro. Pride gets knocked. Ego ruffled. Livelihood jeapordised. Reputation tarnished.
That said... accidents are avoidable... and any dive operator must take some responsibility for what happens on their boat/premises. That operator should understand that many spectators don't actually care about what
happened, they just care about
what will happen... how the operator accepts responsibility, how they analyise the incident, how they listen to feedback and advice...what changes and improvements occur...
In this instance, the dive community is concerned that an incident was dealt with denial, rather than acceptance and pro-active investigation/remediation. Lessons can be learned from that.
