Jupiter diver in trauma center after ‘upper extremity’ injury

[ktomlinson]

Wow, the guy is grossly overweight and shouldn't even be diving. Wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't make a stop at the Cardiac Cath Lab, while he's in the hospital. Seriously though, The county's only trauma helicopter was not available for anyone else while taking care of this individual. Imagine if a child in an accident had to be airlifted?

So you want us to prioritize air ambulance based on how the accident occurred? I'm sure that would be an efficient and fair system. Do I get lower priority because I chose to SCUBA dive? I am assuming risk. Some people may think we are silly risk takers. Nice invoking the kids. God save the kids. A certain % of people will respond to that type of argument, so you've got them at least.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

It can run without Randy being there for awhile, I suspect. The 3 days I dove with them around 1st week of May, 1st day I didn't see Randy, 2nd day Randy was on the boat with us, 3rd day Randy was at the pier and saw us off but wasn't on the boat with us, and a man named Josh did the shark feeding on all 3 days; when Randy was along, he had a scooter and I remember him getting dropped separately. I think he might've been looking to spear some additional bait, but I'm not certain of that.

Richard.

Yeah, the last few times I've been out Randy has switched between spearing and feeding.

From what I've heard, Randy's doing well and hopes to regain full use of the hand. Sounds like the primary concern was blood loss, although I imagine there was some nerve damage.

I have no information on how bad the bite was, but I can tell you after the first time I found a tiger shark tooth on one of his dives I made the mistake of rubbing it with my thumb while at the tiki bar. I realized it had shredded the pad of my thumb once the lime juice from my drink hit the cuts. The serrations on there can do a number on soft tissue even if the shark doesn't bite down. The fact that he still has the hand makes me think that it wasn't a full-blown grab.

 

[Hetland]

I have no information on how bad the bite was, but I can tell you after the first time I found a tiger shark tooth on one of his dives I made the mistake of rubbing it with my thumb while at the tiki bar. I realized it had shredded the pad of my thumb once the lime juice from my drink hit the cuts. The serrations on there can do a number on soft tissue even if the shark doesn't bite down. The fact that he still has the hand makes me think that it wasn't a full-blown grab.

Tiger teeth are no joke. I can't imagine a tiger biting him, and him still having whatever was bit. If it happened during a feed, my money's on a lemon.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

I would be pissed if I was turned away from a dive.

Wasn't pissed at all...he was right. If I made it sound like I was at his dock when it happened, I wasn't. I was looking for some dive options and Southwest had a cheap fare to Florida. All on the phone and email.

Jay

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Tiger teeth are no joke. I can't imagine a tiger biting him, and him still having whatever was bit. If it happened during a feed, my money's on a lemon.

I have it on fairly good info that it was a 10-11 ft tiger.

I have seen them mouth things without biting down hard; in particular on my last Tiger Beach trip the feeder was freediving but had his tank and BC on the bottom as a backup. He wound up putting it on after one of the big (14-15 ft) tigers tried mouthing it on three different occasions (on the last one the tiger tried to carry it off). Didn't note any leaks from hoses or the BC afterwards.

 

[Dan]

I hope he'd be fully recovered from the bite soon.

If the shark would bite anything, then it could have just tried to bite his arm off, not aiming for the bait. Yikes!

I went free diving / snorkeling with this operator in Jupiter, Florida Shark Diving on last July 4th weekend. Basically he was chumming the water with chopped fish pieces. We saw Silky & Dusky, but no Tiger, nor Hammerhead. I guess I was there at the wrong time of the year.

 

[Steelyeyes]

So basically captains are just dicks.

Captains that turn people away are doing so to protect the person from their own bad judgement/ego about what they are capable of and to protect themselves from law suit the heirs of the overconfident diver would surely bring forth upon their demise.

 

[YankBoffin]

This boat can charge what it wants. There is always someone standing behind you that wants your spot. Divers pay ahead of time, and if you're late, the boat leaves without you. These are advanced OW dives, and Randy requires Nitrox/AOW as a minimum. DM is clear about who's in charge (he is), and that he's not there to babysit divers. I've actually seen him kick people off the dive (made them go back to the boat) because they couldn't follow directions.

Heh, yep, that's the Emerald. "Dive, dive, dive!"

 

[YankBoffin]

It can run without Randy being there for awhile, I suspect. The 3 days I dove with them around 1st week of May, 1st day I didn't see Randy, 2nd day Randy was on the boat with us, 3rd day Randy was at the pier and saw us off but wasn't on the boat with us, and a man named Josh did the shark feeding on all 3 days; when Randy was along, he had a scooter and I remember him getting dropped separately. I think he might've been looking to spear some additional bait, but I'm not certain of that.

Richard.

He also spears for a local restaurant--He got a giant cobia at the end of dive three last time I was out with him. So, maybe he was out for that.

 

[YankBoffin]

From what I've heard, Randy's doing well and hopes to regain full use of the hand. Sounds like the primary concern was blood loss, although I imagine there was some nerve damage.

This is the best news I've heard. Thanks for the update.