what are your scuba battle scars..mental and physical

[diversteve]

I've got a Stingray "hickey" on the inside of my right wrist where that sucker bit me to get me to let go of the squid - which worked btw.. Still there two full years later.

1" wide by 6" long "scratch" on my right leg where I scraped all the skin off on a piece of sharp coral/ironshore my 3rd dive in Bonaire. Since we were there a week, it was a nice multi-colored infection by the time I saw my doctor a week later. Makes a good story when someone asks on a diveboat.

I also get cut up pretty regularly by ladders as I'm not at my most coordinated with 60lbs(what's a tank weigh anyway?) of gear on my back. But it heals....

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

A night dive in Roatan a couple of weeks ago.

Coming up, did the procedure of turning off light and taking reg out and letting it free-flow (both are used to disperse any jellies that might be lurking near the surface).

Didn't help. Got a nice sting across my cheek. Thankfully I was wearing my beanie or I might have been stung in more places.

Back on boat used my trusty dive knife (another reason for my knife vs EMT shears) to scrape off any lingering stingers and applied liberal amounts of vineger. Yes, the DM brought a gallon of it on board for just such emergencies.

Dave (aka "Squirt")

 

[drbill]

Hmmm... if I had any serious "scars," I don't think I would have continued subjecting myself to them for the past 45 years of diving.

 

[chickdiver]

I'll hit the high points.. the bumps, bruises, scratches and cuts really don't count...

-Tore the ligament complex providing stability to my right ankle (translation- really severe sprain) while walking to the water at Peacock 3 in double 104's (Peacock Springs State Park, FL)- required surgical repair 15 months later.

-Tore the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in my right knee by stepping backwards off the tailgate of my truck after futzing with gear while doing an instructor internship. Dived that afternoon and the rest of the week. Another surgical repair required 4 months later.

-Broke the radial head of my left elbow while unloading a dive boat in Key West. Stepped over a rope I should have gone around, and tripped, stuck my hand out to break the fall and broke my arm instead. Drove home with a broken arm (2 days and 15 hours worth of driving) before seeing the doc 3 days post. Went diving the next weekend (very carefully) eventually healed with no loss of ROM.

- Nearly dislocated my right shoulder last summer while straddling the transom of a dive boat off Cape Canaveral- I was sitting on the transom getting ready to deploy, with 104's and 2 deco bottles on. Swell hit the boat a-beam and over I went- tried to hold on but wet gloves slipped and I wrenched my shoulder around and landed on my knees on the swim platform. Hurt for a couple of months but eventually was OK.

Shall I continue?

 

[JeffG]

Physical
slipped and fell down an ice covered hill with my doubles on hauling gear to get ready to ice dive. My knees are healed, but my back is still paying the price.

Mental
2 incidents ice diving. 1 almost killed me, the other almost killed my brother.

 

[Loneranger]

Stabbed myself with a knife trying to dispatch a large fish and ended up filleting my hand. I ended up with a 1'' stab wound that 7-8 stitches took care of.

 

[Cacia]

Mental
2 incidents ice diving. 1 almost killed me, the other almost killed my brother.

story? How? what are the perils unique to ice diving?

 

[sea nmf]

Minor but I dropped my own tank on my own finger while loading it into the truck This was in Bonaire. The weight squished my ring together.

I tried everything to get if off - had to have it cut off. But I didn't miss the 2nd dive!

 

[El Orans]

Scuba Scars

 

[Kwbyron]

hmm. no active battle scars... I have a small scar on my left thumb from where I dropped my dive knife while sharpening it.. past few dives I have made, I dropped weights on my foot(slides off the webbing)... hopefully it won't go past that.