Diver fatality Bonaire. Translation button on upper left.

[kelliwillmore]

They don't really do that here. There have been numerous fatalities since the most famous one of Fiona Sharp who died on a solo rebreather dive here. Friends of hers are still hoping to hear what was learned from looking at and analyzing her tanks and the information on her computers but nothing and it's been years.

Dive buddies or direct witnesses are the best bet.

Thank you! Diver's Action Network put together a comprehensive timeline and was able to interview several witnesses. Unfortunately, the girlfriend refused to cooperate or provide any info.

 

[kelliwillmore]

Oh crap. Twenty years since last dive, rented gear, shore dive without a DM. Nope, not a perfect plan.

Robbie and I were in the middle of a divorce when he passed. When I saw on his IG that he was going scuba diving, I immediately had a bad feeling about it because my divorce attorney had just died scuba diving while on her honeymoon. I even mentioned the trip to my mom and said I had a bad feeling, so when I called her and told her that Robbie passed while scuba diving, she thought I was kidding. From what DAN was able to put together (they called me with their findings), apparently it was his very first dive. Robbie stopped at Buddy Dive and rented equipment for a shore dive. He then proceeded to swim out to the area but he had a sudden cardiac event while swimming to the dive spot. He never even made it underwater. Somehow the girlfriend (and maybe some witnesses?) were able to get him back to shore and administer CPR, however it was too little, too late. It was a number of factors which I think all converged into an imperfect storm that created the fatal outcome. He hadn't dived in 20 years because he took up off-road racing and that was the hobby we enjoyed together. He had a number of very bad crashes and I know the ones he had a Glen Helen, Laughlin, and Saudi Arabia bruised his heart (and collapsed his lung). He also gained a lot of weight after we separated, probably 50+ pounds. And, apparently from conversations I had with mutual friends, the vaccine also damaged his heart and caused him to go into A-Fib. Three weeks before he passed he was at an industry trade show giving a safety seminar to racers. I still work in racing and I would have been at that same seminar had my dad not been in the hospital that week and I had to cancel my trip. Robbie told the gentleman who leads the seminar series that he was having issues with his heart (A-fib) and he was seeing a cardiologist. So, ultimately, I think it was just a number of bad decisions. He was the typical entrepreneur, racer, and A-type personality and had the mindset of invincibility. He knowingly went scuba diving with a heart condition at 63 years old, after a 20+ year absence. He was borderline obese (per the coroner info I received), he had just flown 12+ hours to Bonaire, probably had some alcohol and activities that evening, and then went scuba diving the next day. DAN believed all those factors coupled with the extra weight of the tanks and belts and the swim out to the spot was just too much exertion on his heart and it just stopped. It has been a weird ending to our 13 year relationship. I always thought after our divorce was final, that I would have the heart to heart "closure" talk with him that I couldnt have during the divorce. It is still very bizarre to think that he is gone because he was larger than life.

 

[DandyDon]

my divorce attorney had just died scuba diving while on her honeymoon.

Just wow. Sorry to hear that.