Shannon Lewis - The True Story

[The Chairman]

Malicious gossip is a problem in diving and especially so in the 'tight knit/at odds with each other' cave community. Egos, passion, jealousy and other agendas all come into play as normally sensible people discuss this behind the backs of the people who were actually involved. I am good friends with Jim as well as some of the other people at odds with him on this. The bitter pill is an easy one to swallow and it's hard to get past the bad taste in your once you do. It's hard to challenge this gossip when it comes from people you like and trust, but it's important to get past your (and their) preconceived notions about what they may or may not have done. Some of the stories circulating about this are as wrong as they are down right mean. I was talking to a very respected member of the Scuba Industry and the Cave community, and he told me that he saw the download from Shannon's computer that showed what a liar Jim was. It turns out, she wasn't even wearing a PDC on that dive as hers was broken and being repaired.

Here's the thing: I've seen Jim teach. I've seen Jim dive. Jim's account of what happened appears to be entirely reasonable and consistent with his methodology. His student's account coincides with his as well. All this subsequent conjecture seems to be designed not to shed light on the truth, but rather only to malign Jim. It's malicious not helpful. You think you're hurting Jim by spreading these lies, when all you're doing is to diminish your own reputation in my and others' eyes. Don't act like you were there if you weren't. Don't act like you know a secret if all you're doing is regurgitating the malice of others. All that does is to foment more Cave Community Politics and the bitterness that comes with it.

Nothing we can do will bring Shannon back now. Nothing. She dove when she should have called the dive before she got into the water. If there is anything to learn from this is that there is nothing down there worth dying for. It doesn't matter that you've spent a lot of time, money and effort getting down there to dive. If you're sick or mentally distracted, stay out of the water. That's the prudent thing to do. That's the real take away from this incident. I'm only sorry that this lesson cost Shannon her life. That's the real tragedy here.

 

[LiteHedded]

is it true your dive computers showed you never ascended past 55' as the gilliam affidavit states?

 

[bullfroger]

Jim, I have sent people to the surface without going with them. My cave instructor has done the same as have many many more of us. You did no wrong! I. Have wondered if Shannon may have made a second attempt to rejoin you,and did further damage to her inner ear. But we will never know. Thanks for sharing.

 

[LiteHedded]

Jim, I have sent people to the surface without going with them. My cave instructor has done the same as have many many more of us. You did no wrong! I. Have wondered if Shannon may have made a second attempt to rejoin you,and did further damage to her inner ear. But we will never know. Thanks for sharing.

you shouldn't do that. hope you will rethink it after this as Jim has

 

[ucfdiver]

Jim, I have sent people to the surface without going with them. My cave instructor has done the same as have many many more of us. You did no wrong! I. Have wondered if Shannon may have made a second attempt to rejoin you,and did further damage to her inner ear. But we will never know. Thanks for sharing.

I think the affidavit is over dramatized and uses strong language to condemn Jim for something that the majority of the community did on a regular basis. Aside from the dive computer saying they never went past 55ft (as Brian asked Jim to address) and a few quotes by Wayne Kinard which were relayed and not a direct quote, there aren't many facts that supports Brett's stance. Brett consistently quotes the written "standards" but if this case were to have ever gone to court Jim could have called in dozens of cave divers, including instructors, admitting to leaving buddies at decompression depths.

With that being said, I think we need to realize that leaving a buddy that close to the surface has almost zero benefit ($1 in nitrox and 5 minutes time?). I do believe there is a greater chance that Wes and Shannon would be alive today had their buddies not left them to do a solo ascent. When saying that, I feel obligated to reiterate that I do think what Jim did was common practice in the hobby and I'm only using this as an example of why we shouldn't do it going forward and not trying to condemn him for what he did a few years back. In Jim's earlier post it appears that he reached the same conclusion.

 

[boulderjohn]

When saying that, I feel obligated to reiterate that I do think what Jim did was common practice in the hobby and I'm only using this as an example of why we shouldn't do it going forward and not trying to condemn him for what he did a few years back.

That is pretty much exactly what Brett Gilliam said when I talked with him.

 

[danvolker]

Also, I think we need to make the distinction between "expected behaviors" with "tag along buddies", and with "real buddies". This sounded like a "group" dive, with a 2 man buddy team, and a tag along.
If you are in a group on an ocean dive, and a diver cant clear their ears on descent, or needs to come up way early due to a very poor SAc rate, the only person this will negatively effect is the real buddy of this person.
This goes to choosing your buddies wisely, and being clear on responsibilities.
I don't see Jim as being the buddy of Shannon, and the bigger issue this story brings up, is for Group dives of all kinds in the future, and what happens when one diver wants to thumb the dive.

 

[knotical]

As in so many things, “it depends”.
Letting a fellow diver complete their ascent alone depends largely on the diver. My opinion:

It’s only prudent to accompany all current students and relatively novice divers at least to the surface.

It’s reasonable to watch experienced buddies complete their ascent alone.

It is also reasonable to mutually wave goodbye to cave-trained or solo-capable divers, allowing them to complete their dive on their own. - As in this case,

 

[ajduplessis]

Jim, I have sent people to the surface without going with them.

With a buddy or solo?

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

is it true your dive computers showed you never ascended past 55' as the gilliam affidavit states?

You make a valid point and one that I have struggled with and tried to understand since I saw the download of my NiTek Duo computer from the dive that day. Let me say up front that I have no definitive explanation. However having thought about it for all these years I have few possible explanations which may sound like BS to you, because it kinda does to me.

One scenario I have come up with is that the sampling time of that computer which was set at 30 seconds simply did not record the brief time I needed to spend watching Shannon ascend to the log and wave us off.

It’s also been suggested that this minor discrepancy may be due to a calibration error of the computer. I am not offering these as absolute proof for the depth I was at as I simply don’t understand it.

The bottom line for me and I think should be for you is that Dave Flick, my student and the only other living eyewitness supported my version under oath in his deposition. He told the same story I am telling you and he had no reason to lie.