Visiting California diver fatality - Hawaii

[DandyDon]

From California visitor dies after diving expedition in East Oahu - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

HAWAII KAI (HawaiiNewsNow) - A 50-year old visitor from San Diego is dead after being pulled from waters off Hawaii Kai.
We're told the diver was surfacing from about 100 feet of water when he lost consciousness around 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning.
A dive boat brought him to the Hawaii Kai Marina.
He was taken to Straub Hospital in critical condition where he later died.

 

[SnorkelLA]

Could it have been cardiac? Or did he miss his safety stop?

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Could it have been cardiac? Or did he miss his safety stop?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record . . .

There is exactly ZERO useful information/details on this accident and already we're speculating????? I mean, it's bad enough when we do it with some facts at hand but when the sum total of the info is "diver pulled from water dead"????? It could have been dozens of things. But guessing doesn't do anyone any good. End of rant. (But something tells me it'll reappear down the road . . .)


- Ken

 

[lucky111]

We do not know many of the details, about all I know is that he did not miss his safety stop. He was an experienced diver, well-respected criminal defense attorney in San Diego, 67 years old. Philip Demassa will be missed by his wife, son, friends, family and colleagues.

 

[J105Puff]

Was company was he diving with.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Was company was he diving with.

I don't want this too sound to harsh but . . .

What difference does that make? What bearing does it have on the facts of the accident? (Again, about which we know nothing in terms of wehat's been reported here.)

And who's to say he was even diving with a local company? All the report says was that "A dive boat brought him to Hawaii Kai Marina." Perhaps they merely responded to a diver in distress who was diving from his own boat or diving from shore. (We've certainly had that happen here in SoCal.)

And the question, though I understand it probably just arises out of idle curiosity, makes it sound like the dive company (if there was one) was complicit in the death. 99% of the time, the boat you jumped off of or the beach you entered from does NOT factor into the facts of the death.

I bring this up (again) just to underscore that when we're looking at the details of a diving fatality, we ask a whole host of questions that might include who were they diving with, is there evidence of a cardiac problem, did they miss a safety stop, and maybe 50 other questions to get the big picture. But just to focus on one question (Who were they diving with, in this instance) doesn't really tell you anything without the other info and becomes like the story of the blind men describing the elephant by only feeling one part of him.

- Ken

 

[lucky111]

The autopsy was inconclusive. It will take 6 weeks for toxicology reports. FYI The diving company was a local one, but, like you said, there's probably 99% chance it had nothing to do with the death.

 

[Bratface]

I am always sorry to hear that a diver has lost his life, but I have to agree with Ken that speculation doesn't help anything. Some people want details so that they can analyze the accident, others out of curiosity. Could we please be mindful that the deceased diver's friends may be reading this thread?

 

[wedivebc]

How exactly does a missed safety stop lead to a fatality? Why was that even mentioned (several times)?