Shannon Lewis - The True Story

[LiteHedded]

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.

Fair enough.

30' or 55' it doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of difference. I think everyone learned a lot from this incident and a lot of folks took a long look at how they handle situations like this. And I think that's a good thing

 

[Omisson]

Part of the problem here is the litigious nature of American jurisprudence- plaintiffs can go on fishing expeditions.

A diver on inner eat medication has no business on a dive let alone in a cave - this should be an instant dismissal ground (contributory negligence) not simply a percentage liability deduction.

Thanks for setting the record straight.

 

[TSandM]

What are "inner ear medications"? To my knowledge, the only medication that is used for inner ear problems is prednisone (or an equivalent oral steroid) and there is no particular reason why someone can't dive on it. My husband is currently dealing with an idiopathic hearing loss in one ear, and was on steroids, and went diving. His ENT doc approved it.

It is inadvisable, from the standpoint of resolving the issue, to dive while on antibiotics for middle ear infection. But I would not expect someone who did so to die, so long as they could equalize. One could envision some vertigo as a result of unequal Eustachian tube function, but I survived many episodes of vertigo as a brand new diver, and I would think someone with cave training could get from the Ginnie log to the surface, even with vertigo.

I don't know why this young woman died, but making a blanket statement that diving on "inner ear medication" is inexcusable is at best questionable, I think.

 

[Omisson]

What are "inner ear medications"? To my knowledge, the only medication that is used for inner ear problems is prednisone (or an equivalent oral steroid) and there is no particular reason why someone can't dive on it. My husband is currently dealing with an idiopathic hearing loss in one ear, and was on steroids, and went diving. His ENT doc approved it.

It is inadvisable, from the standpoint of resolving the issue, to dive while on antibiotics for middle ear infection. But I would not expect someone who did so to die, so long as they could equalize. One could envision some vertigo as a result of unequal Eustachian tube function, but I survived many episodes of vertigo as a brand new diver, and I would think someone with cave training could get from the Ginnie log to the surface, even with vertigo.

I don't know why this young woman died, but making a blanket statement that diving on "inner ear medication" is inexcusable is at best questionable, I think.

Feel free to take chances with your life but if you are on medication for inner ear infections (the seat of balance control) and chose to dive in an overhead environment you are playing dice. It's really that simple.

Add to that showing up at a cave dive site without a buddy, without full Cave and without solo certification.... What was the "plan"?

The only thing "questionable" here is the risk analysis of someone doing such a dive.

You say you "survived many dives" as a new diver despite vertigo- were those dives in a cave? Some other overhead environment? Have you ever experienced inflammation induced vertigo? Compounded by swelling or engourgement due to depth/pressure changes? vertigo can be completely debilitating.... No sense of orientation.... Breathing control lost... Passing out....

But please - ignore the section in dive waivers about diving while on ANY medications or having ear issues...

---------- Post added April 3rd, 2015 at 12:14 AM ----------

So your husband dove AFTER being advised by a physician it was ok.... Kinda different then the fact pattern here..... No?

 

[knotical]

I think the OP may have [-]misspoken[/-] mis-written inner ear when he meant middle.

 

[karstdvr]

Thank you for sharing Jim. From someone in the cave diving community that appreciates accident analysis and need for information, I hope we can put this unfortunate situation to bed. I think all the useful information was gleaned along time ago, and digging it up over and over again by people not directly involved seems to have a more of a retaliatory/punitive theme than trying seek personal edification. As far as Wes Skiles, we will probably never know what occurred, and as far as I know this is still an open case pending.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Certainly a lot of dive computers will not shore short ascents as they only record the maximum depth at a certain point or in a certain period. Therefore it is possible to ascend to the surface, spend a few seconds there, and descend back to (say) 10 metres and the dive computer will only show you coming to up to 10 metres. More recent computers save data at more frequent intervals, but back in the 2000s it was not uncommon for only one sample to be taken each minute. I have seen this before in my own (old) computer.

 

[karstdvr]

I don't know why this young woman died, but making a blanket statement that diving on "inner ear medication" is inexcusable is at best questionable, I think.

I don't doubt all aspects are looked at to explain an accident, and medication is no different. The accident at Cow a number of years ago, medication was felt to be a contributing cause of the accident. I think what Dan is saying is if a person is on medication related to inner ear problems, a prudent individual would refrain from diving due to the nature of the problem needing medication versus putting the medication on trial.

 

[Diver0001]

Over the past several years there has been a lot of discussion both in public and behind the scenes regarding my role in the tragic death of Shannon Lewis in June 2008. ...snip....

So, summarizing..... If I understand your story then the situation is as follows;

- an ex student tags along during a training dive
- she has ear problems
- you escort her to within 5m of the surface
- you leave her alone at that point
- somehow or other she managed to die in those 5 metres despite all her training, all her experience and wearing (I assume) fully redundant scuba gear in which she was trained and competent in using.

Frankly hindsight is 20/20 but I would also have been perfectly comfortable leaving the diver alone in that circumstance.

R..

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

You say you "survived many dives" as a new diver despite vertigo- were those dives in a cave? Some other overhead environment? Have you ever experienced inflammation induced vertigo? Compounded by swelling or engourgement due to depth/pressure changes? vertigo can be completely debilitating.... No sense of orientation.... Breathing control lost... Passing out....

There's no physiological reason why alternobaric vertigo would directly cause debilitation, loss of breathing control, so to speak, and unconsciousness. However, the panic that can result from sudden, unexpected, severe vertigo (and kudos to TSandM for overcoming that) could certainly lead to both.

Best regards,
DDM