This sounds like a death that shouldn't happened.

[boulderjohn]

I' say that covers sudden illness deaths while diving (which for instance DAN will not classify as a diving death).

I am not sure what you mean. Every DAN fatality report includes people whose deaths were caused by cardiac events. It is the biggest section.

 

[FinnMom]

I was recently told by a DAN rep. that if the coroner's report says the death was caused by sudden illness it is not a diving death i.e. no insurance payment. The fact that the sudden illness struck while diving and may have been unsurvivable because of being underwater is irrelevant - or so I was told.

I too was dismayed as to how our sport's reputation can be burdened with these large number of "diving fatalities" if they are for insurance purposes in fact not "diving fatalities". Either they are or they aren't: the numbers should not be big when you want to sell insurance and hugely trimmed when it comes time to handle a claim.

But I risk getting off the original topic of this thread so I'll stop here.

 

[DandyDon]

Something about a "freak wave" has been published as a cause, as seriously as we can take new stories - but they're all we have to go on. Excerpting from: Diver loses life after freak wave strikes | Irish Examiner

Rev Dr Stewart Jones, 57, of Donemana Presbyterian Church near Strabane, Co Tyrone, died at Sligo General Hospital on Saturday night after he was airlifted. A 24-year-old man from Derry who got into difficulties with him was also taken to hospital, but he was later released.
Gardaí and emergency rescue services said the two men, who were friends, were diving near St John’s Point lighthouse when they got into difficulty.
They were on their second dive when they reached surface and they were suddenly hit by a freak wave.

I stand corrected, this accident happened in Ireland which is not part of the UK and therefor not subject to their laws. Sorry for the misleading statement.

Correct: County Donegal is a county in the Republic of Ireland. It's actually northwest of Northern Ireland and reaches slightly further north, which causes confusion - but it part of the Republic of Ireland. See https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Coun...a=X&ei=oT3DU5apF8qa8QHB6IC4Bw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAw

County Tyrone is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, and so is very much part of the UK although, like Scotland, its legal system has some differences from English Law.

True, and he lived in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, bordering County Donegal - but the accident was in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, as is Sligo General Hospital. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties_of_Northern_Ireland

 

[Storker]

If anyone cares to google this incident you will find some additional information. I'll ignore the bashes and hope that I will not get attacked from these regulars
[...] Either way I think I'll leave the forum to all you experts

I assume that you're not only new to this forum, but perhaps also to Internet forums in general?

If I assume correctly, I want to point out - trying not to sound too condescending - that online discussions often "sound" harsher than if the same words were used in a face to face conversation IRL because we lack the body language which always accompanies a face to face discussion and can soften the words. Besides, every forum has its quirks, its regulars with different modes of expression and its discussion culture, and it's a good thing to get to know those quirks before diving headlong into a discussion. The A&I subforum here on Scubaboard isn't covered by the same "be nice"/flame-free rules as the New Divers and Basic subforums, so if you post here, expect to be challenged by people who disagree with you.

I don't think people were deliberately trying to put you down because you were a n00b. They just didn't agree with what you posted, and replied accordingly, in the sometimes somewhat terse tone you might experience in some of the subforums here on Scubabord. Why not just hang around and lurk a little bit, to get a feel for the tone in the different subforums before you give up?


And, BTW, for those of us who have discussed online since the Usenet days, this forum is quite civil in comparison to some of the Usenet groups of those days...

 

[boulderjohn]

Something about a "freak wave" has been published as a cause, as seriously as we can take new stories - but they're all we have to go on. Excerpting from: Diver loses life after freak wave strikes | Irish Examiner

Very interesting, and quite plausible.

Two years ago a freak wave roared through the Hillsboro Inlet opening in south Florida, upending a dive boat that was entering the inlet and killing one of the passengers. It can happen. the article does not say how it affected the diver. It could have smashed him into some rocks, for example. Some shorelines can be particularly hazardous in this entrances and exits. Does anyone have any information on this one?

 

[Stoo]

PADI requires a whomping 100 dives to get certified, and a few courses. That's one decent dive season for many of us...

Anytime I see "over 50" and "diving accident" in the same paragraph, I jump to the assumption that there was a health-related issue, compounded by some dive-related stressor. Pure speculation of course...

 

[flots am]

I'm wondering which diving deaths SHOULD have happened?

There are divers who do things that can be seen at the outset to have a very high likelihood of death, and then do.

Not specifically related to this incident, but to your question

flots.

 

[DandyDon]

I came across this one from last year while searching for another accident in Ireland. There were two follow up reports that made the news...

One said that the minister died telling his dive buddy to save himself...
Minister urged friend to save himself

Another one says they can't be sure why he died because his computer was not recovered:...
We will never know why minister died in diving accident, expert tells inquest - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

 

[minervamar]

The reports say that a rouge wave might have been responsible. Either way I think I'll leave the forum to all you experts

Oh, the dreaded rouge wave. So it was the red tide that done him in.

 

[LiteWeight]

Some of the absolute worst divers that I have witnessed in the water were instructors. And they're even worse at the fill station, where they think that just because they're an instructor that I should fill their tanks that haven't been visually inspected in 2 years. Or partial pressure blend them a fill into a cylinder that has not been O2-cleaned.