Unresponsive Missouri diver pulled from West Lake Okoboji - Iowa

[DandyDon]

Rescue Crews Respond To Report Of Near Drowning On West Lake Okoboji

(Okoboji)-- There were some tense moments this (Thurs.) afternoon when an unresponsive person was pulled out of West Lake Okoboji.

Rescue crews and paramedics were called around 2:15 pm to 3401 Fairfield Street in Okoboji just west of the former Inn location. Initial reports indicated a person who had been pulled out of the water was on a dock at that location and that CPR was being administered. The person was then taken by ambulance to Lakes Regional Healthcare and has since been transferred to a Sioux Falls hospital.

No other information was immediately available however KUOO news has learned the person is believed to be from Missouri and had reportedly been scuba diving.

We'll have any additional details as they become available.

 

[Dark Wolf]

Hope they make a full recovery.

DW

 

[DandyDon]

He is currently expected to recover, but it was a very close call.

We're Learning Additional Details Into Near Drowning On West Lake Okoboji; Local Teen Credited With Saving Man's Life

(Okoboji)-- We're learning additional details into a near drowning Thursday on West Lake Okoboji. Rescue crews were called around 2:15 pm after getting a report of a man who had been pulled out of the lake just west of where the Inn used to be. The victim was on a dock and CPR was being administered.

We have since learned the name of the person who pulled the man out of the lake. He is 17-year-old Calvin Grosvenor of Okoboji. KUOO news spoke with Calvin this (Fri.) morning and told us what happened...

"So yesterday I really wanted to go in and get a job so I went down and talked to my old scuba instructor, Jose, about getting a number for a guy who needed help for some work. When I showed up Jose was talking to a guy who wanted to scuba dive, he was in town for the day and wanted to go alone, but Jose insisted that he goes with a buddy or a partner. He couldn't leave the shop. So what I did is I offered to go out with him and go out for a day and have some fun."

Calvin says he and the man went to a popular scuba diving location just off from where The Inn used to be...

"We were about five minutes into the dive and he was starting to lag behind and I was making, I kept going around, turning around making sure he was okay by giving him hand signals and everything, since you can't really verbally communicate under water. He kept saying he's okay, that he's okay, and then one time when I turned around he was kind of seized up, shaking, and just kind of falling down into the mud. His regulator had fallen out of his mouth and when I saw that I swam over to his side, grabbed him, and did what I was taught in my scuba diving training. I filled up my buoyancy control device, or BCD, floated up to the surface as quick as possible, and I ran, or I paddled atleast a hundred yards back to shore where there was a lady waiting on a dock and she was wondering what we were doing. I just yelled help, he's drowning! At that instant she called for help, she called 911, and there was a construction crew on the house that we went up to and they ran down and grabbed him and pulled him up onto the dock and once we got his equipment off I ran down and helped perform CPR on him. And once the ambulance arrived he had a slight pulse and he was starting to breathe slightly. Otherwise he probably would have drowned."

The man, who's from Missouri, was taken by ambulance to Lakes Regional Healthcare and was transferred to Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. He is expected to recover. Calvin says he learned the man was one certification away from becoming a master diver.

Calvin offers this advice to anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation some time... PlayStop

"Just make sure you stay calm and get, if you have the chance, get training so you know what to do in that situation. I went through, I was in Boy Scouts for a little bit and that's kind of where I learned how to do CPR, and then the, I would recommend getting some scuba diving certification. This was my first dive without an instructor and I was, thanks to my instructor, I was actually prepared for the worse possible scenario."

Calvin is the son of John and Teresa Grosvenor. He became a certified diver this past November. He turns 18 in just a few days.

 

[lermontov]

too close for comfort - i shudder at the litigation opportunities against th e boy and the dive shop if it had gone bad

 

[DandyDon]

too close for comfort - i shudder at the litigation opportunities against th e boy and the dive shop if it had gone bad

The diver was certified so I can't see how the shop would be liable for renting him gear. The boy wasn't getting paid I don't think, so no risk there. I hope the boy gets an award.

 

[lermontov]

The diver was certified so I can't see how the shop would be liable for renting him gear. The boy wasn't getting paid I don't think, so no risk there. I hope the boy gets an award.

hope so too- my understanding is that even of you are a 'buddy' a qualified guide has a duty of care paid or not , well thats the way a lawyer may try to angle it

 

[Aviyes]

All I read was that he offered to be a buddy. He was not an employee, not hired to be a guide, just a buddy for the day.

 

[lowwall]

Great job by the kid. Maybe not perfect, but kept his cool and got the guy out. The victim was extremely lucky a) that the dive shop owner insisted he go with someone and the kid offered to do it, b) his buddy was paying attention to him, c) his buddy was physically able to get him out of the water and d) there were people able to successfully apply CPR until EMS showed up.

Mod edit

 

[DandyDon]

An updated story says the diver who lost control "experienced a brain embolism, after a hole in his heart caused an air bubble to be sent to his brain." But it also has a headline that calls the kid an instructor, even tho it was his first dive after training. Okoboji scuba diver saved by instructor recalls act of heroism

 

[lowwall]

The headline is wrong, but the story states something very different.

On Thursday, Calvin Grosvenor was getting set to go on his first scuba dive without an instructor. He was to dive with Jesse Fletchall, a Missouri native who he had just met, and was also a fan of scuba.

It then goes on to give details of the dive and rescue, including the fact that Grosvenor not only got Fletchall to the surface and the dock, but was the one doing the initial CPR.

It's good to see that the Fletchall did the right thing.

Fletchall first went to a nearby hospital, and then taken to Avera in Sioux Falls, where he finally regained consciousness while in a hyperbaric chamber.

“He’s a hero. He saved my life. I’ll be forever in his debt. I cannot do enough for that young man,” Fletchall said.

After being discharged on Saturday, Fletchall drove straight to Okoboji, to show his gratitude to the young man who saved his life.

Fletchall will need surgery to repair his heart, but as soon as he’s recovered, he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“As soon as I can get that done, and able to dive again, I’m going to come right back up here, and we’re going to finish this dive,” Fletchall said.

Note that the text is a slightly shortened transcript of the accompanying video. The reporter in the video closes the story by mentioning that Fletchall bought a full set of gear for Grosvenor, who had been renting. Well done all around.