Running the boat over my head after back roll.

[Sam Miller III]

I have a long term relationship with Estonians,
My language professor many years ago was C.M. Purin and very dear long term friend the Director of the LA Co UW Instructor's Association and the Senior Aquatic specialist was Tom Ebro, both born in Estonia.

Both were considered very hard headed but I never realized until your detailed description of your accident just how hard headed an Estonian could be -- defecting a powerboats propeller !

If you were a feline you have used one of your nine lives -- consider yourself extremely lucky . I suspect you have little and possibly no recourse against the dive operation as a result of your injury and resultant long term pain humility and suffering- I would suspect that your instructors insurance would have the primary medical responsibility, with the shop a distant second - if they were as non responsive as claimed

The Red & White divers flag although not a factor in your accident was developed by Ted Nixon via a two sentence paragraph in Skin Diver Magazine in the September 1957 issue for a flag to alert the boating public of diving activity and to remain clear of the area. Even at that time over 60 years ago boaters and divers of the developing diving community were on a collision course .

The first accident involving a diver displaying a red & white divers flag and a boat occurred on September 22. 1962 at Long point Catalina Island , California. The injuries to the diver were substantial - he lost the use of his right arm and the majority of his right back muscles were destroyed beyond repair.

I was summoned as a expert witness to identify the history, validity and proper use of the then new and untried divers flag- We prevailed -- The divers flag was recognized in a court of law as the unofficial flag of recreational dive activity.

Since that original 1962 accident I have been involved in numerous litigations involving diver/boaters, I have maintained a file containing the pictures of the accidents - some minor - most fatal - all demonstrate horrible mangling of the human body by a boat propeller - I cannot publish the pictures do to post mortem deflation and defamation of character.

You have used one life and have been extremely lucky - enjoy all your future dives but be careful and fly the divers flag

Cheers from California - where it all began

Sam Miller, III

 

[michael-fisch]

Oh Sam,
I live in europe, and the US divers flag here is only used to mark dive shops. A vessel with divers down flies the Alpha Flag, divers entering from shore use an Alpha Flag to mark their Entry / Exit locations, and if they are doing dives from one location to another they are supposed to fly an Alpha Flag from an attached float.

Michael

 

[BoltSnap]

This is truly terrible in every way. I am very glad that you are around and able to write about it.

I'd hire a lawyer and do everything possible to send them to jail and close them down in addition to paying you compensation for all of the your suffering.

 

[Ana]

I knew the post was going to end badly after I read :
"I was super friendly with him"

Nothing good follows that statement.

My philosophy is to be respectful but neutral when first dealing with a new person, for sure a coworker.
Ready to lower the guard when warranted, but also figuring out a fast way to either evade or properly disable said new person.

 

[Joneill]

Hi guys
This is a difficult subject for me, bu if i don't bring this up, it won't be right, because this could happen to any of us, but we think "not to me". I thought so too. I was working in Grenada, in ScubaTech dive center for a few months. I am a MSDT, I had an assistant DM, who was a local guy, older than me, and showed quite a lot of disrespect and inadequate behaviour towards me and the fact that he was told by the dive shop owner to assist me. I was super friendly with him, as I always am with people, always seeing the best in them until they disappoint me. This DM tried to make me look bad in front of clients every single time he could. This time he made me look bad literarily.
Back roll after he stopped the engine and gave me a command to go. Blow on the head (in a 5mm hood). Surfacing to invite my guests to get into the water, when I see the boat moving away from me (in perfectly still water), and one of my clients already in the water between me and the boat (?!)… My head hurts like crazy, it takes me a moment to understand, what had happened. I take down the hood... and the blood bursts all over the place..my face, hands, water around me...

To cut the very, seemingly endless, story short - it was the boat propeller. DM had started the boat on my head and drove over me before i even got to the surface from the back roll. I got myself up on the boat, holding the splitting swollen head and trying to stop the blood. If i would have lost consciousness i would have died because he was going to drive me back to the dive shop, which was about 30 min away. I screamed at him to take me to the resort that was right in front of the dive site. The staff at the resort acted fast, trying to stop or slow down the bleeding, called for a car to take me to the hospital.

3 lacerations, 90 stitches - huge incredible luck to have the scull just scratched and a few hematomas inside, but brain still in tact - I am grateful to be alive.

The DM never came to see me in the hospital, he never sent me an sms, he never wondered if i am alive or not. The dive shop owner left me without the salary and threatened that i will never find a job in diving business if i speak about this. She told everyone it was a small bump on the head.

I should have listened to my gut, when that morning i did not want to dive. I cried and told the owner i didn't want to go (why? - maybe i knew this would happen), but she made me go.. i should have quit right there.

P.S. i did about 200 dives off that boat, i had a big orange buoy in my hand, i had over 2500 dives under my belt diving and working in diving all over the world. The dive shop owner said it was my fault...

I don't want you guys to feel sorry for me, because i am incredibly lucky. The lesson to learn from this is - ONLY dive with reputable dive shop, work/vacation, doesn't matter. If you see them breaking rules or standards or neglecting safety of yourself or guests - report them, don't dive with them! Please!

Thank you for giving an opportunity to speak about it.

Glad to hear you are OK - that would be grounds for a lawsuit that would put that shop and that DM permenently out of business here in the US. While I'm not usually a fan of how litigious our society had become - this situation screams of gross negligence, possibly even with intent to harm. It's a shame if they get off with no repurcussion after what happened to you!

 

[clownfishsydney]

Wow! That is terrible, I cannot believe that he either still had the boat in gear or put it in gear after you went in. No excuse at all for this!

You are lucky that was all that happened. Terrible that the owner denied responsibility for one of his employees. Hope you recover soon.

 

[Diver below 83]

So he had the motor running when went in?

 

[SandyRobinson]

Glad you are ok! Would like to hear a response from the dive shop but I doubt that will happen. I think the pictures say enough. Good luck as you continue to recover.

 

[Rred]

I can understand when boat operators say they MUST run the prop while divers are in the water, i.e. to pick them up during drift dives or whatnot. I just don't think there's any valid reason for civilian recreational divers (we're not SEALs deploying from a RIB at high speed) to be mixed up with props.

In places that do lots of drift dives, as I said, sure, the boat ops have a point of some kind. Up in the Northeast US, in the 80's there was a lot of discussion about this, with the boat operators agreeing that since they usually anchored for the dive (bugs or wrecks) it was safest to physically remove the engine key and either stow it, or have a diver take it down--to make Real Damn Sure the engines weren't started when divers were in the water. (With the emergency spare literally kept in a "break in case of emergency" case on the boat.)

That was after a dive instructor was seriously maimed by a prop accident, prompting a lot of discussion.

I can see the OP would have some haziness about memory after a head trauma that probably includes concussion. But with her experience, I find it hard to think she would go into the water while the engine was running and the boat moving. More likely the operator had it in neutral when he signaled her in--when it should have been off.

A lawyer and some fact finding are needed. In the US, that operator would lose his captain's license at least, for negligent operation. A prop versus a skull...no thanks, I want the engine off and the key out.

 

[DanMont]

I can understand when boat operators say they MUST run the prop while divers are in the water, i.e. to pick them up during drift dives or whatnot. I just don't think there's any valid reason for civilian recreational divers (we're not SEALs deploying from a RIB at high speed) to be mixed up with props.

In places that do lots of drift dives, as I said, sure, the boat ops have a point of some kind. Up in the Northeast US, in the 80's there was a lot of discussion about this, with the boat operators agreeing that since they usually anchored for the dive (bugs or wrecks) it was safest to physically remove the engine key and either stow it, or have a diver take it down--to make Real Damn Sure the engines weren't started when divers were in the water. (With the emergency spare literally kept in a "break in case of emergency" case on the boat.)

Sure having the engine off and the key out would eliminate risks of getting hit by a prop in gear but unless you are anchoring or tie-ing off to a mooring this is completely unfeasible for diving in most places.

Here in the UK boats are active at all times when divers are in the water - usually a shot is dropped on the target dive site (wreck or reef), when the divers are ready the boat approaches shot line, engine goes to neutral and divers go. Forward momentum of the boat should carry you clear of the divers to allow the prop being put back in gear. Standard practice is then to do a free ascent under a dsmb drifting with the current - so the boat has to have the prop running to pick divers up.