Another CZM diving death Nov 21.

[Christi]

American tourist dies while diving in Chankanaab

COZUMEL, Q. Roo .- Coming from Baltimore, Suzanne Stevenson, 69, left the group, was found dead two hours later.


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Julian Miranda / SIPSE
COZUMEL, Q. Roo .- Death of a tourist 69 years when diving in Chankanaab reef with four friends.


Suzanne Stevenson, a native of Baltimore, United States, this morning, on board the vessel "Sleeping shark", he went to Chankanaab reef located in the south of the island.


The underwater experience that began as an activity on their vacation ended in tragedy when Suzanne left the group who commanded the ship's captain, Gonzalo Solis, around 9:30 in the morning.


The woman remained missing about two hours, to be found in the deep sea without life was removed and taken to the shelter Caleta where, in vain, emergency services were waiting for their arrival.


The place came the Forensic Medical Service personnel (Semefo) to perform the autopsy of law.

Discrepancies from what I understand are:
1. They were diving the wreck (which is technically in the Chankanaab area)
2. I had originally heard that she was found immediately, but the 2 hour search makes sense with the time frame if this was the first dive of the day. I was at Playa Palancar when the call came over the radio, that was between 10:30 and 11:00 and they had recovered her body at that point. The boat returned to the Caleta where the ambulance was waiting about 12:00

This is the extent of the details I have heard.

God bless the family and friends who are suffering now! My thoughts and prayers are with you! And of course, my thoughts are with the very fine operation, crew and other divers who were there. A rough day for all involved!

 

[scubawife]

I guess I'm just wondering if there's a board of some sort that reviews these incident clusters - like morbidity/mortality post-ops - to see who was involved, what measures were in place, best-practices, number of dives each fatality had under his/her belt, location, what "might" have prevented it? I heard the woman today really didn't want to do the second dive. If that's true, why DID she? I certainly DON'T want the powers that be in CZM involved but maybe someone at DAN can look into this? Not looking to assign blame; just hoping to learn how to prevent another family from getting horrible news that can't fathom. We were at the table next to these divers yesterday, laughing and enjoying the surface interval and now one of them is gone. Just sad.

For someone who's first post is looking for info on a tragedy, you sure know quite a bit, even met the diver... Since you're on the island and diving, why not ask your dive op how these things are handled and if there's any official board or person who does what you're asking about?

I have no info about this incident, but it never ceases to amaze (and slightly disgust) me how the vultures, experts, critics and analyzers crawl out of the woodwork on forums before there's even time to properly notify the victims family. If this happened today, what details do you expect to get on a forum? What credible information would even be available yet? I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying it, but all a thread like this does is add to the rumours you say are already flying.

Why don't some of you inquisitive minds take a step back and think about what if it was your family or friend? Would you want the sort of posts a thread like this generates this early on after the incident to be about your family member, friend, or about you?

The reality is that most diving deaths have nothing really to do with diving. The events just happened to occur while the person was diving. If you drop dead of a heart attack on a golf course it's not a golf accident and there's not an immediate demand from total strangers for an inquisition and answers.

I have been on a number of dive days where I wasn't comfortable with the dive the group wanted to do. I speak up and say so, but I also always say... and mean it... that if everyone else wants that dive, I am fine to sit out and stay on the boat. If there is a dive you're not comfortable with for any reason, don't do it.

 

[WSOPFAN]

It is obvious the OP is trying to suggest some sort of relation to the divers death which may or may not be true. However given the fact that the Mayor has been seen recently attempting to try to promote tourism he may want to address some issues that have risen lately. For instance, a dive shop owner posting here that :

Going further there are many, even in the Cozumel medical establishment, that find sloppiness, laziness, and pervasive errors in autopsies performed by unqualified doctors.

I think that speaks volumes and the Mayor might want to address that accordingly.

 

[DandyDon]

Shutup, your feelings and desire for more info seem understandable to me. Opinions vary greatly here on various keyboards, but I am sure this is stressful for you too having met the folks. My condolences to you as well.

Hell, if I die at 69 diving Cozumel, I'd want my friends to give me a going away party. Again, opinions vary...

 

[WSOPFAN]

Shutup, your feelings and desire for more info seem understandable to me. Opinions vary greatly here on various keyboards, but I am sure this is stressful for you too having met the folks. My condolences to you as well.

Hell, if I die at 69 diving Cozumel, I'd want my friends to give me a going away party. Again, opinions vary...

And a U.S. autopsy...as you suggested.....for sure right..........?

 

[Thalassamania]

For someone who's first post is looking for info on a tragedy, you sure know quite a bit, even met the diver... Since you're on the island and diving, why not ask your dive op how these things are handled and if there's any official board or person who does what you're asking about?

I have no info about this incident, but it never ceases to amaze (and slightly disgust) me how the vultures, experts, critics and analyzers crawl out of the woodwork on forums before there's even time to properly notify the victims family. If this happened today, what details do you expect to get on a forum? What credible information would even be available yet? I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying it, but all a thread like this does is add to the rumours you say are already flying.

It colllects all the rumors that are flying about in one place where they can be dealt with in time, and that is, in and of itself, a valuable contribution. If it bothers you, I suggest that you not come here and read or contribute your thoughts.

Why don't some of you inquisitive minds take a step back and think about what if it was your family or friend? Would you want the sort of posts a thread like this generates this early on after the incident to be about your family member, friend, or about you?

If it were me, or family or a friend, I would want exactly that to happen, especially if it occurred in a place that was not noted for the accuracy of it's news reporting.

The reality is that most diving deaths have nothing really to do with diving. The events just happened to occur while the person was diving. If you drop dead of a heart attack on a golf course it's not a golf accident and there's not an immediate demand from total strangers for an inquisition and answers.

You rather miss the point, when someone has a heart attack on a golf course there's little that the course does to assure the individual's demise, sometimes they survive, sometime not. When someone has a heart attack at 70 feet, there is a large interactive term between the medical condition and the locale.

I have been on a number of dive days where I wasn't comfortable with the dive the group wanted to do. I speak up and say so, but I also always say... and mean it... that if everyone else wants that dive, I am fine to sit out and stay on the boat. If there is a dive you're not comfortable with for any reason, don't do it.

Bully for you, that shows good judgement.

 

[SandyRobinson]

Thoughts are prayers to the victims from the last few months and their families and friends. God bless you all.

 

[vlkr]

risk is something we do not think about when we are doing something we do every day. when i was new to fl i took a predawn hike in the everglades. i was with a ranger. we would approach the glowing red eyes of gators and then hear a large splash 15 feet away. after it got light out i realized we are surronded by water mocassins. the ranger explained that wild animals only attack for food and when they are cornered. we did not fall into either category. we got back to the parking lot after sunset.
he told me that the everglades is roughly the size of deleware and they average one seroius injury a year. however, the road i was about to take home averages about two serious injuries per month. he urged caution driving home in the dark.
my guess is that at least 100 boats per day take an average of 6 divers each every day. 600 divers per day x 365 days per year. some die but the most dangerous part of our trips might be the drives to/from the airport.

 

[Ron Lee]

These early news reports seem to me to be less than useful. What does "left the group" mean? I do not know how the grapevine works in Cozumel, but I would be surprised to hear/read credible reports on the events of this dive.

With aviation accidents, a good base cause is pilot error. With diving, medical causal factors may be significant.

Regardless of what the truth is, I am comfortable at this point in stating that the probability that anything involved would make me rethink diving in Cozumel is zero. Even the suggestion that there have been a higher than usual number of fatalities recently, if true, is nothing more than an aberration.

I was also amazed that in the one picture posted that was presumed to be of this event...that there were three people taking pictures visible. Two of those appeared to be wearing uniforms of some sort.

 

[twodawghs]

I am new to this board, and I am not a diver.
However - I am the stepdaughter of the woman who died.
I found this board by googling for information on this.
My father called me this morning with the tragic news and we are trying to wrap our heads around this.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

I am very interested to find out what really happened...
First - to correct the biggest mistake, because she is probably in apoplexy at the moment...Suzanne was NOT 69....she was 60...
I read in the article that she left the group - I know her, and while she is an experienced diver, I have a problem believing she would leave the group.

If anyone has some clear information or is down there, I would really like to hear from you and would appreciate the contact.
At this moment, I'm trying to track my dad down as this is the one trip that they didn't leave any info about where they were staying and I didn't think to get that information this morning.

Thank you,
Laura