Diving accident

[DANNYO]

There was some kind of dive accident last week that a woman lost her life,does anyone have anymore information about this accident?It was posted by another bb member and from the looks of the boat its Dive Aruba.I have dove with Clive many times and know that diving with him is safety first.Any information would be appreciated.

[DANNYO]

What I heard was the following:
This happened to the spouse of couple that has been diving with Clive for years and always go back to him, with good reason. Clive is known as one of the more safe divers on Aruba and pays a great deal of attention to the welfare of his divers.

The day prior to the accident, the lady in question had been coughing and not feeling 100%. On the dive day, it seems as if Clive asked her several times if she was feeling OK and if she was up to the dive. She confirmed that she was. While they were diving, the lady motioned (signaled) that she she needed to go up and Clive went with her. She pulled herself up on a Guide-Rope attached to the boat and got to the top. Clive entered the boat and took of his equipment to assist her and when he turned, she was in the water staring downward. clive called out to her but she was motionless. He then grabbed her arm and brought her on deck immediately and gave her the proper emergency assistance, however it was too late.

The husband, knows Clive for the many years of diving that I mentioned and he absolutely does not hold clive at fault in any manner.

The family has taken the proper steps with the handling of the ladies body and are of course grief stricken. To say the least, Clive is heart broken at the loss of his long time Canadian diving friend.

That - is what I heard from several sources.

be well
charles

[DANNYO]

I got the above response from a google search that i did.As you all can see from the signature its from a good source.

[sweir5492@rogers.com]

The funeral for the Canadian diver who died while diving in Aruba will be held this Saturday in Windsor.
I presume that an autopsy was held in Aruba prior to her body being released to the family. Does anyone know the results?
Stephen Weir
(former Windsor, Ontario Canada diver)
stephen@stephenweir.com

[lizzardo]

Actually, i'm not sure that Aruba would do an autopsy. Never thought if they have the facilities to do that....

[sweir5492@rogers.com]

I find it highly unusual that an autopsy wouldn't be conducted after a diving accident. Isn't it important to find out how a person died underwater? It is not a question of blame, but, if the dive industry is going to learn from fatal accidents one has to know exactly what caused a person's demise. In this case the Canadian media is calling it a scuba accident, which could mean equipment failure, improper surfacing protocol, poor accident management etc. Yet, in reading what has been on the boards it sounds like the diver could well have died because of an exsisting medical problem.

[EdnaSmith]

According to a message posted on another website, the lady in question wanted to cancel her dive the day before it was scheduled because she had a bad cough. She later changed her mind and went on that dive so the entire problem here could have been that she was sick prior to that day. In any event our condolences to the family.

[ScubaBOS]

I received a PM from someone on another board (not an Aruban board) who confirmed the message that DANNYO posted.

I guess my two thoughts or concerns would be;

1. Why wasn't there someone on the surface who could have assisted in the rescue? Especially with a boat dive, someone should always stay with the vessel in case there is a problem below or at the surface.

2. Why did Clive climb back onto the boat to remove his gear before aiding the diver? In my training, the person in distress is paramount. Apart from making sure that you don't become a victim yourself you do everything to aid them first. First and formost you ensure that they are breathing and provide rescue breathes if necessary. Secondly you remove weight belts and gear and then you head to shore or the boat.

[diverbob]

My last experiance with him was there was four of diving plus Clive and we are in the buddy system and the other buddies ran into trouble ---so Clive motioned us to continue diving and he went to the surface with them. So now my buddy screws off under the deck of this large vessel ---so I lost him as Clive told us to hold our postion with our dive...So I waited for my Buddy without return and I'm now at VERY LOW AIR...finally my buddy come back and showed him no Air--He now was very nervous and screamed to the top and myself trying to hold him back--without success. WE get to the top and Now I'm upset with this whole situation----I told Clive when this happens---ABORT THE DIVE REGARDLESS. His remarks --you should have known better

That was my last Dive with him....

[sweir5492@rogers.com]

-I told Clive when this happens---ABORT THE DIVE REGARDLESS. His remarks --you should have known better That was my last Dive with him....

One should never draw conclusions about a dive fatality based on comments left on a website (talking about the death on Decembe 24th) - things get left out, facts get skewed etc. Clive sounds like a good guy but comments about his accident management protocol - including your report about the Out-of-Air incidents, raises eyebrows.

I did send an email to the Aruba Minister of Tourism asking for details about the Canadian accident. That was a couple of days ago. He hasn't acknowledged receiving it. Might have the wrong address.

stephen weir
Canada