underwater death and suicide

[DiveDuo]

This thread is officially closed and there will be no further response from myself or the editorial staff.

It seems that it was a great error to approach this subject on an internet discussion. To those who have responded and replied with professionalism, I thank you for your comments.

To those who have disregarded this as "BS" and media hype, your opinions are discounted the moment you begin to label and throw quipish commentaries.

If you do not like the "BS" and the "Hype" that is published, then might we suggest that the next time you are approached for comment by someone in a position to retract the trash you are forced to read, you might respond in a serious, forthright and less belligerent manner.

Suicides happen on land and sea. Because they do not happen on your doorstep does not mean they do not happen. Because it is approached in a magazine does not mean it is "BS" or "Hype." Unless you have read the three articles published already, then I would suggest commentary is unnecessary on the subject matter. As far as supplying addresses to the sites, it is expressly forbidden to provide such information when you join this web forum.

If you think that publications spit out anything they want and have total disregard for fact, you are far from knowledged. Facts must be documented to publishers even if they are not allowed by law to print names and dates.

To the heartfelt writer who commented about suicide being a release for the terminally ill, with all respect these are not the subjects we were discussing as probable divers in this scenario. I altogether understand that death or suicide can be a welcomed release from agonizing death. My father, step-father and father-in-law all suffered from lengthy bouts of cancer before death. Again, with deep respect for your emotions, the subject of scuba related deaths was not intended for your particular situation.

For those who offered me gas mixes from the vehicle and sucking water at depth, I thank you for the intelligent exchange of opinions. It is always enlightening to proffer a subject and receive brittle comedy in response.

Once again, there will be no further comment from the editorial staff to this forum. I suggest you save your hostility and your breath for other more important matters than our little rag publication.

 

[scubasean]

What an attitude.

 

[Genesis]

We can't ruin the original poster's wild fantasies with reality... that wouldn't sell rags!

 

[cantlogon]

to a temporary problem." In the case of the terminally ill, however, I can see it as being perhaps more humane than what I've seen others go through. After seeing this, I've thought of the possibility of a "one way dive" if it ever became necessary. I've wondered about the mechanism of oxygen toxicity. Ideally, if one just kept going deeper, would he/she just "black out" at some point? Having been a swimmer all my life, and now with 4500 dives, I know I wouldn't want to "drown"....but, if you black out, would you even be aware of drowning?
I think there should be a distinction made between "my girlfriend doesn't like me and I'm going to kill myself" and "I'm dying and I can continue to waste away to nothing & let the people who care about me watch this happen, or end it more peacefully & on my terms before things get really bad." It's tough watching someone who'd always been very active & strong, lie in bed for their last weeks with essentially no energy except to watch the wall & breathe...and even the breathing being difficult. I'm not sure what is gained by this.
I know some people's religious beliefs preclude any consideration of taking any means to speed up this process, and I respect their decisions for themselves. Personally, I think if there's no hope of recovery, anything that would let you just "black out" would be preferable. I realize that people with terminal illness can have a long time where they can still function, but at some point, they are reduced to being able to do nothing but breathe, and then even THAT becomes too difficult. It's not like (from what I've seen) the movies where someone just peacefully "falls asleep" and dies
Sorry for this being so long.

 

[Genesis]

are typically loss of consciousness. Drowning happens because while you are blacked out you lose your reg, and well, the rest is obvious.

I can't imagine that there would be suffering associated with this, since your consciousness departs - that's the deal with the seizure that causes the problem in the first place. A person who has an O2 fit on land typically comes around completely unaware of where they are and why.

The normal pattern is that you black out, stop breathing during the fit (since your muscles are all "locked up"), a minute or two later restart breathing and a couple of minutes after that you regain consciousness.

The last won't happen if you lose the reg underwater during the seizure, obviously.

If I wanted an absolutely foolproof means of doing this, I'd probably load up a pony bottle with a good dose of intentionally-created CO in air. Take THAT down to depth, take a few breaths, and its goodnight time with no risk of failure or pain on the way out. Kinda like the underwater equivalent of locking yourself in the garage with the car running.

 

[bwerb]

DiveDuo once bubbled...
This thread is officially closed and there will be no further response from myself or the editorial staff.

As far as supplying addresses to the sites, it is expressly forbidden to provide such information when you join this web forum.

First...you aren't a regulator/moderator...you don't close threads.

Second...it's actually not permitted to have numerous people posting under the same log-on name.

Third...in terms of web addresses...sez who? Guess all of our thousands of previous links etc. were just kinda slipped under the radar.

Fourth...we had an American guy locally who was on the run from a number of creditors. He had basically disappeared off the map. Then he shows up at a LDS and is sure to clearly state his intentions of "deep diving", his name, his location etc. He uses a credit card for the first time in a huge while again...very clearly identifying himself.

His "buddy" reports that there was an "accident" at depth and that he lost sight of him. Initial reports were that the diver died and the body was never recovered...then it get's interesting.

"Buddy's" story is replayed numerous times and the holes begin to appear.

Long story short...we have no idea where this guy is but...the whole scuba death thing was entirely fabricated to "erase" his existence. He tried for a "paper death" to escape his debts.

Police investigations indicate he did not die, his whereabouts are currently unknown.

 

[Genesis]

Long story short...we have no idea where this guy is but...the whole scuba death thing was entirely fabricated to "erase" his existence. He tried for a "paper death" to escape his debts.

Police investigations indicate he did not die, his whereabouts are currently unknown.

Some people just don't think it through.

If you're going to do this, why fake your death? You can't (ever) use your former identity again. So just "make" a new one, and go about your business.

You can't go back to where you were, or associate with who you used to, in any event or your cover will be blown. This is true irrespective of whether or not you had an "accident." So for all the drama you create, all you end up doing is adding a felony fraud charge to what was originally a simple civil (read: they can come after you for money, but can't jail 'ya) matter.

I'd rather run from creditors, who's limit of their enforcement extends to grabbing money, than run from the law, who's limit of enforcement includes locking me up.

THe latter only makes sense if the law is ALREADY after you for some other serious felony charge. Then you are not adding risk on top of risk.

Otherwise you're converting something that's no big deal into something that, if/when you get caught, IS.

 

[bwerb]

Here's the links to the articles...

dive NZ

Hit "search" and "suicide" and they pop right up.

Sorry...I can't link to them directly...something about the site architecture seems to prevent me.

And DiveDuo...a simple posting of the first two articles would have gotten the responses you needed without the animosity.