Lost diver found on rocks - Barragga Bay, New South, Australia
- Thread starter DandyDon
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Dan
Contributor
RIP Bruce. Condolences to you, family & friends. Pray for better weather.
dlofting
Contributor
Thinking about you...hang in there as best you can.
Well we survived the fires OK, three nights evacuated to Tathra... they came very close to Barragga Bay but thankfully did not burn with the intensity of larger fires nearby.
Local shop stayed open as long as possible for essential supplies...
Where all 9 of us were holed up for three nights... sprinkler system on the roof drenched whole place.
Walking Sam to stop him fretting
My sister-in-law Lysanne's property up near Bombala was not so lucky... the entire place was burned out but at least the new main machinery shed with heavy plant and equipment was OK.
The fire was so hot it melted glass and the aluminium gearbox housing on a motor bike ran off in a puddle on the ground!
Due to the fires and major road closures, Bruce's funeral was delayed to January 20... which very sadly was also their 30th wedding anniversary.
The full Coroner's Report won't be available for months, but the family was officially told he suffered a massive heart attack in the water and drowned... he was only 57.
He was found gently placed by the waves near this rock pool, and the single tree forms a perfect memorial.
Bruce was a NSW DPI Hunting Compliance Officer and his many colleagues formed a guard of honour.
I think we gave him the best send off possible, it was a full house with many heartfelt eulogies... he was very well known in his local community of Batemans Bay.
His daughter Ella read a poem by the poet Robert Frost which I think summed up Bruce's passion for life and the great outdoors well...
His was a life well lived, and he passed from us doing something he loved.
Bruce will remain forever in our hearts...
I'll miss you mate.
Local shop stayed open as long as possible for essential supplies...
Where all 9 of us were holed up for three nights... sprinkler system on the roof drenched whole place.
Walking Sam to stop him fretting
My sister-in-law Lysanne's property up near Bombala was not so lucky... the entire place was burned out but at least the new main machinery shed with heavy plant and equipment was OK.
The fire was so hot it melted glass and the aluminium gearbox housing on a motor bike ran off in a puddle on the ground!
Due to the fires and major road closures, Bruce's funeral was delayed to January 20... which very sadly was also their 30th wedding anniversary.
The full Coroner's Report won't be available for months, but the family was officially told he suffered a massive heart attack in the water and drowned... he was only 57.
He was found gently placed by the waves near this rock pool, and the single tree forms a perfect memorial.
Bruce was a NSW DPI Hunting Compliance Officer and his many colleagues formed a guard of honour.
I think we gave him the best send off possible, it was a full house with many heartfelt eulogies... he was very well known in his local community of Batemans Bay.
His daughter Ella read a poem by the poet Robert Frost which I think summed up Bruce's passion for life and the great outdoors well...
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
His was a life well lived, and he passed from us doing something he loved.
Bruce will remain forever in our hearts...
I'll miss you mate.
When it is my time, I hope my family and friends will gain some peace and solace from one of my favorite quotes:
“And in the end it's not the years in your life that count; it's the life in your years. ” —Abraham Lincoln
Like Lincoln's quote, I suspect your brother squeezed every drop of life from his years, and brought joy and love to all who knew him.
“And in the end it's not the years in your life that count; it's the life in your years. ” —Abraham Lincoln
Like Lincoln's quote, I suspect your brother squeezed every drop of life from his years, and brought joy and love to all who knew him.
OP
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I'm glad to read that y'all survived the catastrophic fires as well as so many couped up in that little house. Much was lost, but I am confident that you'll recover well.
A sad loss, but the luck of a bad draw it seems. I'm also glad that you finally got to honor him with a gracious interment.
There is absolutely nothing I can say that would mitigate the magnitude of what you are going through. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.
Just know that tears have been shed for you and yours on the other side of the world.
Just know that tears have been shed for you and yours on the other side of the world.
Today is a sad first anniversary for our family...
We finally received the Coroners Report just a few days ago which confirmed the cause of death to be ‘ischaematic heart disease in the context of immersion’ as expected... which has provided some closure.
CT scans revealed ‘the heart was enlarged with marked coronary artery atherosclerotic narrowing’ and ‘myocardium showed extensive multifocal areas of fibrosis with remote ischaemic injury.’
So divers please get yourself checked out for cardio fitness, we were quite shocked to find out how significant the degradation actually was in someone seemingly so fit!
This morning at 9am my brother Ross and I went round the rocks to the spot and toasted Bruce with a dram of his favourite Lagavulin 16yo Single Malt.
May he rest in peace...
We finally received the Coroners Report just a few days ago which confirmed the cause of death to be ‘ischaematic heart disease in the context of immersion’ as expected... which has provided some closure.
CT scans revealed ‘the heart was enlarged with marked coronary artery atherosclerotic narrowing’ and ‘myocardium showed extensive multifocal areas of fibrosis with remote ischaemic injury.’
So divers please get yourself checked out for cardio fitness, we were quite shocked to find out how significant the degradation actually was in someone seemingly so fit!
This morning at 9am my brother Ross and I went round the rocks to the spot and toasted Bruce with a dram of his favourite Lagavulin 16yo Single Malt.
May he rest in peace...
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