Sydney-sider
New
Dear divers,
Some of you probably heard (and read on ScubaBoard forum) about a terrible incident that happened in one of the Australian dive shops a few weeks ago.
To summarise what's already been told, a diving instructor from Sydney Mattias Lock (aka. Matt) was refilling a customer's aluminium oxygen cylinder when the tank exploded. As a result, Matt was severely injured: his right leg had to be amputated from just above the knee, his other leg is broken, and his head injuries included fractured skull and swollen brain. Matt was alone in the shop when this happened, and could've died had the neighbor upstairs called paramedics 10 min later.. He is currently in a stable condition in hospital.
It's too early to say what caused the explosion of the cylinder as the investigation continues. However, it's widely known that problems exist with cylinders manufactured from certain compositions of aluminium alloy. In the last 20 years here have been several explosive aluminium cylinder failures, which oftentimes caused severe injuries or deaths of divers and dive technicians.
No matter what caused this particular cylinder to explode, there's no need to say that Matt's life has changed forever. A lot of divers from Sydney and across the world know Matt as an experienced diver very passionate about his job, a charismatic diving instructor, a kind-hearted person and a good friend. Despite sustaining such a major and life-changing injury, Matt stays positive and even has promised that in three months he will get back on track and continue his diving and teaching career!
Matt has never asked for any donations himself but his friends and family members have started a crowdfunding campaign. The campaign is called Mattias' Road to Recovery, and I encourage you to have a read about Matt and, if possible, donate some money that would help Matt to recover from this accident.
Thank you for your support!
Some of you probably heard (and read on ScubaBoard forum) about a terrible incident that happened in one of the Australian dive shops a few weeks ago.
To summarise what's already been told, a diving instructor from Sydney Mattias Lock (aka. Matt) was refilling a customer's aluminium oxygen cylinder when the tank exploded. As a result, Matt was severely injured: his right leg had to be amputated from just above the knee, his other leg is broken, and his head injuries included fractured skull and swollen brain. Matt was alone in the shop when this happened, and could've died had the neighbor upstairs called paramedics 10 min later.. He is currently in a stable condition in hospital.
It's too early to say what caused the explosion of the cylinder as the investigation continues. However, it's widely known that problems exist with cylinders manufactured from certain compositions of aluminium alloy. In the last 20 years here have been several explosive aluminium cylinder failures, which oftentimes caused severe injuries or deaths of divers and dive technicians.
No matter what caused this particular cylinder to explode, there's no need to say that Matt's life has changed forever. A lot of divers from Sydney and across the world know Matt as an experienced diver very passionate about his job, a charismatic diving instructor, a kind-hearted person and a good friend. Despite sustaining such a major and life-changing injury, Matt stays positive and even has promised that in three months he will get back on track and continue his diving and teaching career!
Matt has never asked for any donations himself but his friends and family members have started a crowdfunding campaign. The campaign is called Mattias' Road to Recovery, and I encourage you to have a read about Matt and, if possible, donate some money that would help Matt to recover from this accident.
Thank you for your support!
