Regular quarry diver found dead - Falling Rock Park, Kentucky

[DandyDon]

It seems he entered the water with a buddy, then they separated, and I guess that buddy never checked on him even after the dive. I had buddies leave the NM Blue Hole without telling me a couple of times. The first time I quickly searched the hole on my pony; the second time I climbed the stairs and looked first, seeing him at the pickup.

Oldham County Police identify Louisville man who died in apparent drowning at Falling Rock Park quarry

Oldham County Police are investigating after man died in an apparent drowning at the Falling Rock Park quarry in La Grange, Kentucky, on Sunday.

Oldham County Police Maj. Neil Johnson said police received word about a possible drowning at the quarry just after 12:30 p.m. Officers responding to the scene learned Dennis Price, 62, of Louisville, got into the quarry to go scuba diving with a friend around 9:45 a.m., and the two separated upon entering the water.

Johnson said another diving group noticed Price unresponsive at the bottom of the quarry sometime before 12:30 p.m. and brought him to the shore to begin performing CPR until police and EMS arrived.

Oldham County EMS and La Grange Fire and Rescue got to the scene and continued administering emergency treatment, Johnson said, but Price was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesperson for the quarry tells WDRB Price had been a regular there for 20 years and was a certified diver.

Rosalind Metzmeier, owner of Seaweed Diver, Inc. and the Seaweed Diver shop in New Albany, Indiana, knew Price, having trained with him in 1993. Her dive team provided assistance at the quarry Sunday morning.

Metzmeier told WDRB Price was "very experienced," having built his own oxygen system for breathing while diving called a "re-breather." She said he was found in about 19-feet of water near the diver entrance.

Sunday was the last day of the season for the quarry, which is on Fendley Mill Road in La Grange. It offers scuba classes at 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays during the season, according to their website and Facebook page.


An official cause of death remains under investigation.

 

[wgw04024]

The buddy just left? It doesn't say that exactly, but if someone else found him THEN called the police, you could assume that. That would just be something else.

 

[doctormike]

Homebrew rebreather in 19 feet of water. No idea what happened (obviously), and probably will never know for sure, but shallow water hypoxia is potentially very dangerous in that scenario.

 

[Khrissi]

How odd- posted news item is not available in European Union! GDPR strikes! K

 

[DeputyDan]

I had an insta buddy once that would have left like that.
My LDS did a trip and he was my buddy on a night dive.
I saw him when we were buddied up on the boat and once again when I was back on the boat.
Never saw him once during the actual dive.
His attitude was - so what, I'm not you're mamma.
Needless to say, That was the first and last time with him.

 

[happy-diver]

and what if it were a pure o2 unit as possibly suggested in the article

and anyhow the flavour is all brewer dependent with this masterpiece able to do both

 

[Louisville Diver]

Falling Rock Park is a recreational use swimming quarry with some sunken things which are fun for recreational divers who don't generally get to go to good places. It was where I got my OWD card (there are a few sunken platforms for training), and I think that the local paramedic and police divers train there as well. Vis sucks, generally about 5 feet in August-September, and there's a thermocline at about 12 feet, where it drops to chilly. Might be 35 to 40 feet at its deepest point, but I never cared enough to find it.

I probably wouldn't go in with less than a 7 mm wetsuit anymore - even 5 mm is barely tolerable.

Anyway, my wife and I like to go there on weekends to float, grill out, watch the antics of the late teens and early 20 somethings that aren't subject to many rules and drink whatever we can sneak in. Often, we'll chuckle at the struggles of the training classes.

I have noticed the same smallish group of divers show up frequently with their rebreathers and personal submersible vehicles. Probably one of those folks - which is awful sad.

 

[BlueTrin]

Homebrew rebreather in 19 feet of water. No idea what happened (obviously), and probably will never know for sure, but shallow water hypoxia is potentially very dangerous in that scenario.

I am not so familiar with this, are you suspecting that his homemade rebreather didn’t scrub enough the CO2 ?

 

[fsardone]

I am not so familiar with this, are you suspecting that his homemade rebreather didn’t scrub enough the CO2 ?

Hypoxia: not enough O2 which put you to sleep without warning.
Not scrubbing enough CO2 hipercapnia: fast breathing, impending doom feeling, panic, stupor.

Kind of different beasts but in shallow water you run for surface for number 2, you sleep and quietly die for number 1.

 

[DandyDon]

The buddy just left? It doesn't say that exactly, but if someone else found him THEN called the police, you could assume that. That would just be something else.

That buddy I mentioned in post #1 who left the hole alone (part of a trio, the worst case), heard that I was searching the hole for him and left before I got back. My regular buddy saw him loading & leaving while I was down. He & I had a serious talk about buddies enter together, descend together, stay together, ascend together, and exit together - then he did it to me himself on our next Blue Hole trip, while I was chatting someone else on the surface. There is a 10 foot high wall around the hole. We had another chat. He never did it again, but there were reminders every trip. He always had problems descending to 20 feet. He used to do some Cozumel trips with me, and I always promised his sweet mother I'd bring him back. Then he had a heart attack at work in Texas, and we both outlived him.

I had an insta buddy once that would have left like that.
My LDS did a trip and he was my buddy on a night dive.
I saw him when we were buddied up on the boat and once again when I was back on the boat.
Never saw him once during the actual dive.
His attitude was - so what, I'm not you're mamma.
Needless to say, That was the first and last time with him.

Had one of those on a solo trip to Cozumel once. We buddied as requested, entered, then he was gone in the night faster than I could swim. What can you see on a night dive in a race?

I can be a real nazi about buddy diving if I have to take one. I prefer group diving as I trust my pony a lot more than any assigned buddy.