Water death...

[Mverick]

15 year old boy. Swimming with friends. Buddy's start talking SH@# about how it would be cool to jump off the cliff. They coax each other up there. Friends still swimmin below. One finally talks the other into going first.

He jumps. Around 110ft drop into 10ft of water. With Logs and sticks all around. Hits water. Never surfaces.

1 hour later we get a call. Find him at the bottom in 10ft of water. Large bruise on his back.

Place called the Blue Hole. On the River Road close to Alton Illinois. Mississippi River is on one side of road. Bluffs on the other side of road.

Took about 15 minutes to find him....

Family there. Friends there. About 100 Police and every TV van in the area. Plus 2 choppers...

 

[ShakaZulu]

Very sad to hear that..........

 

[Seabear70]

Damn...

It's sad when this stuff happens. They see or hear about people doing this stuff and they never realize thatthere's more to it than just doing it.

At least when I was their age, I never realized that you had to plan out these things. I salute the passions of youth, but I will mourn for a child who never lived long enough to truly appreciate his youth.

 

[HammerNoMore]

15 year old boy. Swimming with friends. Buddy's start talking SH@# about how it would be cool to jump off the cliff. They coax each other up there. Friends still swimmin below. One finally talks the other into going first.

He jumps. Around 110ft drop into 10ft of water. With Logs and sticks all around. Hits water. Never surfaces.

1 hour later we get a call. Find him at the bottom in 10ft of water. Large bruise on his back.

Place called the Blue Hole. On the River Road close to Alton Illinois. Mississippi River is on one side of road. Bluffs on the other side of road.

Took about 15 minutes to find him....

Family there. Friends there. About 100 Police and every TV van in the area. Plus 2 choppers...

Saw this on the news this morning, sorry you had to be involved with that...

James

 

[Gary D.]

15 year old boy. Swimming with friends. Buddy's start talking SH@# about how it would be cool to jump off the cliff. They coax each other up there. Friends still swimmin below. One finally talks the other into going first.

He jumps. Around 110ft drop into 10ft of water. With Logs and sticks all around. Hits water. Never surfaces.

1 hour later we get a call. Find him at the bottom in 10ft of water. Large bruise on his back.

Place called the Blue Hole. On the River Road close to Alton Illinois. Mississippi River is on one side of road. Bluffs on the other side of road.

Took about 15 minutes to find him....

Family there. Friends there. About 100 Police and every TV van in the area. Plus 2 choppers...

Just a few things things.

Have you been through a debriefing?

How are YOU doing?

Have you been through a debriefing?

Prayers sent to everyone involved.

And last but not least.
Have you been through a debriefing?

Good job now talk it out. Recovering kids is tough so if you need to cry do it. Everyone will understand.

Thank you for being available, there and caring. Now just make sure you do a debriefing.

Gary D.

 

[Mverick]

Just a few things things.

Have you been through a debriefing?

How are YOU doing?

Have you been through a debriefing?

Prayers sent to everyone involved.

And last but not least.
Have you been through a debriefing?

Good job now talk it out. Recovering kids is tough so if you need to cry do it. Everyone will understand.

Thank you for being available, there and caring. Now just make sure you do a debriefing.

Gary D.

Talked to Police and Investigators.

Been doing this for a few years. Even though it's not easy. I'm used to it.

We dive some really messed up areas. Dive teams turn down recovery's that we do all the time. It's a standard thing.

This dive was a cake walk. Small quarry setting. And a little vis. About 3 ft. But we like to be safe. And always dive the same way. Hard Hat. River or Pond. ..SAFETY.. Know your gear backwards and forwards..

 

[Mverick]

Now they are saying it was around a 150ft jump...

 

[Seabear70]

Ya know, we all worry about how the kid died, and how horrible the family feels.

But how many of us stop to think about how the professionals that have to clean up the mess are affected by this?

Who ever says, I hope that emergency surgeon was not traumatized by the sight of a mangled alchaholic that drove his car into a tree?

Diving after these kids is a tough job.

It's not like being a firefighter where you walk into a burning building with the (perhaps subconsious) hope of saving a kid and being a hero. When they call for Search and Rescue, you can be fairly certain that if you get them out ofthe water, it's just to late.

There are no "heros" in recovering these kids. No one's ever going to hold us up as a shining example of what they want to be when they grow up. But we do a job that needs done. And because we do the job that no body else wants, I think that makes Public Safety Divers heros.

 

[Mverick]

Ya know, we all worry about how the kid died, and how horrible the family feels.

But how many of us stop to think about how the professionals that have to clean up the mess are affected by this?

Who ever says, I hope that emergency surgeon was not traumatized by the sight of a mangled alchaholic that drove his car into a tree?

Diving after these kids is a tough job.

It's not like being a firefighter where you walk into a burning building with the (perhaps subconsious) hope of saving a kid and being a hero. When they call for Search and Rescue, you can be fairly certain that if you get them out ofthe water, it's just to late.

There are no "heros" in recovering these kids. No one's ever going to hold us up as a shining example of what they want to be when they grow up. But we do a job that needs done. And because we do the job that no body else wants, I think that makes Public Safety Divers heros.

Actually, the people at the scene. Almost always have been great to us. They treat the divers like GOD... As in, they would do anything for us. Food, Drink, Batteries, Trees moved or cut, place to nap.

My mom doesn't want to hear about me diving in the River. It's spooky sometimes. So I don't tell her..

My friends think I'm nuts.

People I work with think I'm Crazy..

I always explain it this way.

If God forbid, your kid drown. Would you want someone to go in looking for them? Or leave them there?

Answer is always the same, try and find em. I'm trained and can do it. They aren't. So I do it.

It's a horrible job. And I do it volunteer. But, somebody has to do it.

Big thing I think of is that kid could have been me. I did alot of stupid stuff in my time. Obviously I made it. But by shear luck. Not skill...

 

[Seabear70]

Actually, the people at the scene. Almost always have been great to us. They treat the divers like GOD... As in, they would do anything for us. Food, Drink, Batteries, Trees moved or cut, place to nap.

My mom doesn't want to hear about me diving in the River. It's spooky sometimes. So I don't tell her..

My friends think I'm nuts.

People I work with think I'm Crazy..

I always explain it this way.

If God forbid, your kid drown. Would you want someone to go in looking for them? Or leave them there?

Answer is always the same, try and find em. I'm trained and can do it. They aren't. So I do it.

It's a horrible job. And I do it volunteer. But, somebody has to do it.

Big thing I think of is that kid could have been me. I did alot of stupid stuff in my time. Obviously I made it. But by shear luck. Not skill...

I know exactly what you're saying, except that people kind of stay a little back from me. They do that if they don't know what I do for the county, so it may not have as much to do with SAR as it does with my appearance.

I'm a voulenteer diver for the SAR team here. I just see it as something I can do that others cannot. And as I said, it needs doing. People ask me what it's like and I try to joke with them, but it actually sux.