I didn't mean to imply that this accident had to do with being hungover. Somebody in an earlier response had mentioned hangovers as something that ought to keep one out of the water, is all.
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Im sorry, but divers need to step up and accept responsibilty for themselves- if you have a heart attack, if you penetrate without training, if you dive sick, if you dive period, it is your decision, and you are responsible for yourself
PULEASE... how can you expect divers to do something that most non-divers won't do, accept responsibility for their actions. Seriously, the unwillingness to accept responsibility for choices an individual makes of their own free will is quite disturbing to me.
In this case, unless there were pretty obvious signs of illness or dehydration, only the diver was capable of assessing their state of health. If she was truly sick underwater, she should never have continued the dive after her buddy surfaced.
Of course it is sad to see a diver due under any circumstances, but I agree (given what little I know about this incident) that the diver should bear the majority of the responsibility for not calling the dive.
Worthless voyeuristic reading of poor report, without any useful dive detail.
More speculation.
My condolences to the Donna Newton's family...
I believe this tragic incident sets a good example. I am amazed to see that the more skillful divers become the more confident they feel under water to disregard simple basics. I see that every time I dive with advanced divers:They keep poking fish and disturbing underwater life; most divers take decongestants if they experience flu symptoms and instead of terminating the dive they continue; dive with regulators clearly leaking air; some even dive with a hangover... I guess sometimes our experience work against us: No matter how many dives an experienced diver has logged, they should be able to make the right call and ascend with their dive buddies. And for the dive buddy knowing your partner is vomiting underwater you certainly should not leave them behind.
It is extremely difficult to investigate underwater incidents as it was in Tina Watson and Shelly Tyre's cases. I hope more will come into light to further investigate this tragic incident.
Remember the coroner is in the UK and would be applying British "Duty of Care" standards, disclaimers are worthless under UK law. If you provide a service you are responsible for the safety of those paying for it.
The exception is charter skippers who are providing a taxi service to/from a dive site. It is the dive organiser who is held to account if there is an incident.
Regards
Edward
Worthless voyeuristic reading of poor report, without any useful dive detail.
More speculation.