We all hear about tragic scuba diving accidents that so deeply effects our small community of wreck divers. We do not hear a lot about the scuba accidents that did not result in another death but, resulted in a life saved. I have pondered for quite a while over whether or not to tell the story of my diving tragedy that took place over 2 years ago. Part of me wanted to keep it private and yet it is so profoundly affecting me that I feel telling other divers may help me to get through this and possibly help to save another divers' life someday.
This tragedy started to unfold in 2012 when I started to do more frequent deeper dives and dives utilizing Trimix. I was conducting dives according to the tables that I prepared for the particular mix and depth I was diving and I always added extra safety factors. Safety factors included hanging longer at my last decompression stop even though my computer cleared me. However, I would surface and within 1/2 hour I'd have a case of the skin bends which would go away after breathing on O2. I know this is common among divers that routinely dive deep but, in my past this never occurred to me. I started to think that diving on Trimix was what was leading to this repeated skin bends. The addition of Helium (thus Trimix) would make me even colder than on air or nitrox so, I thought being so cold was preventing me from off-gassing particularly at the deeper and colder decompression stops. Therefore, I purchased a Santi heated vest to help alleviate the cold and hopefully eliminate the skin bends.
In 2013 my deeper Trimix dives that I planned were cancelled due to weather so I never got to try out the heated vest while diving Trimix. However, I started getting skin bends on shallower dives. Some of the cases were in no decompression recreational dives that I even hung on O2 at 15' just for added safety. This frightened me and it would not happen on every dive so I could not figure out why it was happening. I took the worst hit on a dive that was only 65' deep and my bottom time was only 30 minutes on 28% Nitrox. I even did a safety stop on O2 at 15' for about 15 minutes. In this case the skin bends went from a rash to pain to tingling down my leg. I breathed on O2 for a long time before the symptoms ceased. I could not figure out what was causing this and now my original theory of breathing Trimix coupled with being cold went out the window.
This brings me to my tragedy that took place on October 5, 2013. I was diving on the Immaculata which is in 95' of water and I planned to do a safe no decompression dive. I do not usually utilize a wreck reel but, when I arrived on the bottom it was pretty silted up so I opted to use the reel to get away from the anchor line and into clearer waters. The dive was calm and uneventful. I recalled looking at my computer and having 4 minutes left before I was required to decompress. I was reeling in my wreck reel heading towards the anchor line. There was only 5-10' of viz on this portion of the wreck due to divers digging for bottles. All of a sudden this feeling came over me and I was started to lose consciousness, everything went black. I recalled that I was aware that I was still breathing and that I was 95' underwater. I realized that I was in the process of losing my life while diving. I tried to keep breathing and prayed to an angel and asked that I not die here, not yet, and not here on this wreck. I still had my wreck reel in my hand but, I could not reel it in. My arms felt heavy and I could not move them. I was able to kick my fins a little and hold onto the reel line and guide myself blindly towards the anchor line. I was still breathing and unable to see and my heart was starting to pound out of my chest. I was aware that panic was setting in... My body then started to convulse. I kept praying and I looked up and saw a faint light in the distance and it turned out to be the strobe on the anchor line. I focused on that light because everything else was still blackness and I somehow got myself to the anchor line. Once I made it to the anchor line, my vision returned but I was extremely dizzy. As a result of holding my wreck reel line as I tried to make it to the anchor, I was now all tangled in the wreck reel line. I told myself to calm down I will get out of this. I looked for other divers to help but no one was nearby. Somehow, I do not know exactly how, I got my fins untangled all the while my heart was still beating strongly. I sat for a moment knowing that I needed to get my heart rate to slow down prior to my ascent. I looked at my wreck reel and what a mess, I tried to straighten it out so that other divers did not get tangled in it and then I remembered what my old instructor always said, "no piece of equipment is worth dying over". I dropped my reel, grabbed the anchor line, and left it on the bottom. As I started to ascend and the feeling of losing consciousness came over me again. I wanted to just make it to the boat. I tried to go as slow as possible. I recall losing consciousness again around 60' but, it was only briefly. Once I reached 20' I was now in decompression. I had to hang. I somehow switched to O2 and started my decompression. I kept hoping another diver would come along so I could have them hang with me in case I lost consciousness. I spotted another diver coming up from the bottom but he was hanging at around 50' and I could not get his attention. I was not thinking clearly and did not think of shaking the anchor line to get his attention. I also was aware that he had a lot of deco too. Once my deco was done, I was feeling better and I tried to hang longer for added safety due to what transpired on the bottom. I hung an extra 16 minutes and I decided to surface. Up on the boat I felt ok and I had no symptoms of DCS or anything else. I was however scared to death. I obviously did not do my 2nd dive and I kept what happened to me on the bottom a secret. I was trying to be strong and not completely break down emotionally over what had just happened to me. I was so scared that I simply did no how to handle this and in hindsight I should have spoken up and told someone.
The next day I made an appointment to go see Dr. Alfred Bove and try to figure out why I have been getting skin bends and why I went unconscious on the bottom. I have thought long and hard about this and I should have died on that wreck. I do believe some angel or other spiritual being saved me that day. There simply is no explanation for how I got to the anchor line. I could not see and could not move my arms but somehow followed my wreck reel line and got to the anchor line. This is what causes me so much angst to this day...how did I make it to the anchor line???
Dr. Bove tested me for a PFO but, he did say that if I was positive for one, he would advise me to continue to dive but to add a lot more safety factor and to dive more conservatively. I tested negative for the PFO. Therefore, I went through a battery of other tests to figure out why I am having so many complications while diving. It was determined that low blood pressure was the culprit for my problems. The low blood pressure was resulting from some of the medications that I take. I now need to dive much more conservatively and to monitor my blood pressure on a regular basis. I know that I cannot dive when my blood pressure drops. Dr. Bove explained how when your blood pressure is very low and you exercise it will cause it to drop even lower which is why he believes I lost consciousness. Likewise, the low blood pressure effects circulation and was preventing me from off-gassing properly, thus the skin bends. In other words, I am getting older even if my mind still thinks I am 20 years old.
I have contemplated what would have happened if I had another diver nearby for assistance. One of the most important lessons I have learned over the years in diving is to be self reliant. In knowing myself and my personality, I think having another diver there to try and communicate and ask for help would have raised my level of panic even further and wasted valuable seconds. I believe that knowing I had to rely on myself helped me to continue to breathe and focus on getting safely to the surface. If I was not an experienced diver, this plan of mine would most likely have failed. I have concluded that the instructor that taught me the lesson to be self reliant resulted in me saving my life. This instructor is Gene Peterson. I owe him my life. There are so many skills that he taught me over the years that never seemed that important at the time until this day when I did exactly as he taught and I am still here to talk about it. We have been estranged for quite some time and I hope that some day I can thank him in person.
One of the reasons it took me so long to write this story of my tragedy is I wanted to make sure that low blood pressure was the only reason this happened. I dove through the 2014 and 2015 seasons and have not felt like I was going to lose consciousness. I have had a few minor skin bends and my answer to that is I need to hang longer at 15' for every dive, even no decompression dives. It is working!!! I have also changed in that I try to dive with a buddy or at least stay close to other divers on the bottom but, the truth is as I stated before, I am not sure being near a diver or with a buddy would have helped in this situation or even if it happened again. I should interject here that on all deep dives I always have a buddy and one that is aware of my potential problems prior to entering the water.
I hope that the worst is over and that I can continue to dive for many more years. It is a reminder that everyone must monitor their health, the slightest change can cause big issues under water. I already knew that each dive truly is a gift but now, I cherish each one even more! Be Safe everyone!
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