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casemanager:I am not laying blame on anyone, i ascended on my own. i tried to find my buddy, i tried to get other divers attention, i tried to find the dm but i was in a state of panic, hyperventilation, and extreme vertigo, plus i was scared out of my mind. had i not ascended, i think about what if i blacked out, what if i had a heart attack at 90', what if i went down instead of up. The fact was i was with a group of 7 students and 3 dms. i was taking my checkout dive for my advanced course. I read that there have been 6 deaths on the spiegel in the last 6 months. Maybe its not a good wreck dive to take advanced beginners on.
If I get back in the water again, I will only do it with a private instructor who is DAN qualified and it will be 1:1. Plus, I will only go with my doctor's permission.
I am not one of the pros I suggested could best advise you here, but that's just not sensible. An newbie OW diver would have more skills than someone who does 4 dives a year. He was just in way over his head, and it sounds like the Instructor was foolish to take him there.You don't have much experience -- 25 dives over 6 years is not a lot.
Ayisha:I can't even fathom why any instructor would do any of the Advanced course at a challenging site like the Spiegel Grove. Especially when you consider that some of the students, albeit unfortunately, may be brand new O/W divers with only 4 shallow dives under their belt, and may never have experienced those conditions. Why even take the chance? :06:
casemanager:I couldnt get attention of any of the divers about 5 feet below me and my buddy was no where to be seen. ...
Or learn buddy diving 101...?*Floater*:Maybe you should get a tank banger, or some sort of noise maker or whatever people use these days to get the attention of other divers.
Did you see the part where the doc told him to not dive?I wouldn't quit though. Just do a bunch of easy dives with either a DM or a very experienced buddy who's willing to look out for you extra carefully. See how it goes and whether you can ease yourself back into diving again.
Better suggestion.Maybe you could hire an experienced instructor to train you to deal with this type of a panic attack under different conditions should it ever reoccur. I'm sure there are things you could do safely dive again, but then again I'm just a guy on the interenet, and the doctor is a doctor...