My first experience with panic

[Sign diver]

I had a similar experience just recently, Ive been diving a lot for a few years. 2 -5 times a week. Im lucky enough to live in the keys and its a life style. A few weeks ago my 10 year old and I were down about 40 feet spear fishing. I have found when I'm hunting I burn threw my air much faster. I was so focused on the fish I was after that I didnt notice the tightening of the air in my reg. By the time I looked at my gauge it was empty. My son was about 30 feet away from me and had no idea I was in distress. As soon as I got to him I grabbed his secondary reg and put it in upside down and got a big drink of water. With that I made a rapid ascent to the top making the AAWWWWEEEE sound all the way up. I remember at about 15 foot from the surface thinking...is this the last thing Im going to see? How will my wife and kids get my big a$$ on the boat and what will happen next. Its a scarey thing running out of air and not knowing what to do first. All it takes is one thing to screw up. We now regularly use each others secondary air supply on dives so we can all be used to getting each others secondary. We REALLY watch our air and make sure we arent cutting it close. Its not worth a possible disaster to get the one last shot at a fish, the freezers already full! Its never as realistic until it happens to you, only then can you fully understand what a panic attack underwater is like and how to deal with it. The best thing you can do as an instructor is let people know the unexpected happens, even to the experienced. Its all in how you deal with it. I could have turned over the reg and purged it instead I freeked and went sailing to the top. The most important thing when your diving has to be your SAFETY. As a dad and lead diver for my family I set a pretty bad example that day. Take whatever you can from these experiences and figure out a way to help someone else. Good to hear it happens to the instructors too!