British teen dead - Wakatobi, Indonesia

[Marie13]

RIP Gregory & condolences to Mills family. It's really unfortunate situation.

I have been to WaKaToBi dive resort. Most of the dive sites were easy dives. They have a good safety minded operation too. It is indeed a good resort to be for beginner divers. Hopefully more detail incident report comes out to better understand what made him panic.

This diver panic underwater remind me of this incident:

Dang, that's scary to watch.

 

[Dan]

Dang, that's scary to watch.

Sure is.

I would like to know why beginner divers panic & do such drastic move against what they have been thought not to do in the OW class. If anyone who has gone through such situation & survived, please share your story here.

 

[Bubblesong]

My daughter was certified at 12. ( In retrospect, I wish our first dives were all at 8 feet, although even that shallow might not saved this kid given the description.)In our first dive together, we were diving at 35 feet, poor viz and light current, just hanging around the bottom next to the anchor to be safe. But a moments looking away from each other and she had drifted out of visible range, 10feet. We both followed training and went to surface and were reunited at the surface. Now, five years later, I have learned of how many ways that could have gone badly, and I can only be grateful she has gotten good training.

 

[Kevrumbo]

A sobering tragedy for such a young Life. . .

But a probable example of a textbook Boyle's Law Pathology: Rule out Gas Embolism. The greatest pressure delta of 2 ATA in the shallowest depth range to the surface is at 10 meters. In the clear waters of the Tropics, 9 - 10 meters to the surface and air is only a tantalizing few kicks & arm sculls away. . .

Fear of drowning and resulting Panic in a real or perceived Out-of-Air Scuba contingency compels to conserve one's breath (or "hold" your breath), and make for the surface as quickly as possible. But proper training dictates that even in this dire emergency to never hold your breath and instead find your Buddy to share gas or last resort perform a CESA --that is to rationally overcome the panic, and utilize the learned skill/technique that will give you the best chance of a viable outcome.

It's the automatic evolutionary emotions like Stress, Fear and worst of all -Panic- that reduces situational awareness and causes perceptual narrowing to fixate only on the most basic instincts in an emergency. While automatic emotions can quickly focus on the most immediate & vital variables like the Need to Breath Instinct for example, it is the learned & rational brain that is able to expand the list of possibilities to resolve the situation and to engage the most reasonable action.

 

[KevinNM]

Sure is.
I would like to know why beginner divers panic & do such drastic move against what they have been thought not to do in the OW class. If anyone who has gone through such situation & survived, please share your story here.

Not being an instructor I thought this was more or less a myth or something astonishingly rare. Then I asked a group of experienced instructors who told me that while it isn't common, they all have seen it happen at least once in an OW class. They pretty much all had been dragged to the surface by a panicked student, trying to keep the student from embolysing.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

The grief and guilt his dad must be suffering must be tremendous. I hope he has family and friends to help him through this. Prayers for all involved.

 

[MV Dive]

Your worst nightmare as a parent. Such a sad story. RIP to the young diver.

 

[Steelyeyes]

A sad story no matter the timing. I was just there in Sept.

 

[FinnMom]

How about if we create a new thread to dicuss diver panic/near panic stories?

 

[iamrushman]

terrible tragedy...condolences to all involved.....