MSP Rescue Diver
Contributor
Scuba diver drowns off coast
By Shannon O'Boye
Staff Writer
Posted March 23 2003
FORT LAUDERDALE -- A scuba diver who went into the water alone to look for some lost equipment failed to resurface Saturday afternoon and was found by a Coast Guard crew about 3/4 of a mile from his boat, officials said.
Coast Guard crewmembers performed CPR on Octavian Opris, 71, on the way to shore before Fort Lauderdale paramedics rushed him to Broward General Medical Center, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Opris, who lived 100 yards from the beach south of Oakland Park
Boulevard, had been diving in the area with some friends Saturday morning. They were done by 10:30 a.m., but Opris decided to go back down to retrieve his equipment.
His friends dialed 911 when he had not resurfaced after 20 minutes because he had only 40 minutes of air left in his tank, Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Lois Bowman said.
The Coast Guard and the police and fire departments got the call
about 10:50 a.m. One of the Coast Guard boats saw him at 11:26 a.m. and pulled him out of the water, but it was too late.
Those who lived near Opris him called him "a great neighbor."
Opris would watch David Haines' house during the summer and would fix things there, and last week Opris took Haines' 15-year-old son kayaking along the shore.
Opris, a retired environmental inspector, was a disciplined,
vigorous man who made the water a part of his life, Haines said.
"He was a very active guy," Haines said. "He used to get out on the water a few times a week. ... That's what he loved to do, that's where he loved to be."
Opris loved land sports as well. He was a top competitor in the
track and field events at the South Florida Senior Games and
returned from a Colorado ski trip two weeks ago.
Staff Researcher William Lucey and Staff Writer Kevin Smith
contributed to this report.
Shannon O'Boye can be reached at soboye@s... or 954-356-
4597. Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Shannon O'Boye
Staff Writer
Posted March 23 2003
FORT LAUDERDALE -- A scuba diver who went into the water alone to look for some lost equipment failed to resurface Saturday afternoon and was found by a Coast Guard crew about 3/4 of a mile from his boat, officials said.
Coast Guard crewmembers performed CPR on Octavian Opris, 71, on the way to shore before Fort Lauderdale paramedics rushed him to Broward General Medical Center, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Opris, who lived 100 yards from the beach south of Oakland Park
Boulevard, had been diving in the area with some friends Saturday morning. They were done by 10:30 a.m., but Opris decided to go back down to retrieve his equipment.
His friends dialed 911 when he had not resurfaced after 20 minutes because he had only 40 minutes of air left in his tank, Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Lois Bowman said.
The Coast Guard and the police and fire departments got the call
about 10:50 a.m. One of the Coast Guard boats saw him at 11:26 a.m. and pulled him out of the water, but it was too late.
Those who lived near Opris him called him "a great neighbor."
Opris would watch David Haines' house during the summer and would fix things there, and last week Opris took Haines' 15-year-old son kayaking along the shore.
Opris, a retired environmental inspector, was a disciplined,
vigorous man who made the water a part of his life, Haines said.
"He was a very active guy," Haines said. "He used to get out on the water a few times a week. ... That's what he loved to do, that's where he loved to be."
Opris loved land sports as well. He was a top competitor in the
track and field events at the South Florida Senior Games and
returned from a Colorado ski trip two weeks ago.
Staff Researcher William Lucey and Staff Writer Kevin Smith
contributed to this report.
Shannon O'Boye can be reached at soboye@s... or 954-356-
4597. Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
