Today is a sad day for 20 Divers and a boat crew in Okinawa and one family in the States... I will refrain from using any names for the sake of privacy, but RIP Free Diver from San Diego.
Today actually started out great. Clint and I went with 3 of our neighbors, several other divers we knew, and some we didn't, out on a boat dive. We had not been in the water since we finished out scuba class for several reasons. Either we were short on money or time, the weather was bad, or I was congested. So, we were really excited to get back in the swing of things today. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We headed out to Ginowan Port, loaded up all the gear, and headed out to Araha Mai, a dive site about 10 minutes out of the port. This was going to be our first stop of the day. Our second stop would have been a place where lots of WWII weapons, ammo, and such are all over the bottom of the ocean, but we never made it there.
Anyways, once we got to the site, "Fred" went ahead and jumped in the water to check things out. Come to find out, he is a very accomplished Free Diver. This means he dives very deep under water without Oxygen. He could hold his breath for about 3.5-4 minutes at a time! According to a friend of his on the boat with us, he just recently got back from a trip where he was free diving down to 150ft! That is freaking amazing! So, while we all geared up, "Fred" checked out the site and told us there were lots of snakes, squid, and other aquatic life to check out. We all headed into the water and down we went.
We stuck close to Landon and Jessica, two of our neighbors. Landon just completed his dive instructor certification, so we feel really safe diving with him, even though we know we are okay to go on our own. The coral in that spot was beautiful! We saw some sea snakes, clown fish, and lots of anemones. It looked like a scene straight out of Finding Nemo.
At one point, I had to surface because I got a terrible sinus headache. You really should not dive if you are or have recently been sick just because of sinus pressure from the water and from being congested, but I felt really good and thought I would be okay. Apparently, I did not give myself enough time after my bad cold to get all cleared up, which caused my headache. Anyhow, Clint came up with me since he is my dive buddy, and we hung out at the surface for a while. After about 10 minutes, we decided to go ahead and get back on the boat. And here is where the day took a turn for the worse...
Once I got on the boat, I hear Alan my dive instructor calling for help. I see that he is pulling a diver along beside him. The boat captain jumps into the water to help tow in the unconscious diver. Clint is still in the water at this point. I turned to the girl beside me and asked her to help me get my BCD off because I knew that the guys in the water would be needing help to get the other diver on the boat. We also began moving equipment out of the way to make room to lay the guy out. I assisted in pulling the diver on board and laid him out on the deck. At this point, I see that the unconscious diver is Fred, the free diver. We immediately began trying to feel a pulse. At first I thought I could feel something kind of sporadic and weak, but then I lost it. So, I got in place to begin chest compressions. Before I compressed the first time, Fred began spewing blood, water, and pink, frothy sputum from his mouth, nose, and even had some leaking from his eye sockets. We turned him up on his side so that the liquid could run out onto the deck. It was probably to most gruesome thing I have ever seen in person. Once the liquid stopped spewing, we laid him back on his back, I noticed that his fingers were, not his nail beds, but his entire finger tips, were blue. His eyelids were also blue and looked very sunk in.(This takes longer to write than it did to actually happen. Everything moved very quickly actually). So, I began chest compressions. At this point, I was the only medical professional on the boat. There were also two rescue divers, one of which found a mask to give rescue breaths and the other was recovering from towing the diver in and getting in touch with 911.
While we began CPR, the other divers began getting in the water to signal the other divers to get on the boat ASAP! At this point, out of 20 divers, only about 7 were on board. Another diver, who is a medical professional came on board and immediately offered to take over compressions for me. We switched off at the next 2 rescue breaths. As more divers got on board, more rescue divers (there were 6 total) and more medical professionals (a doctor, a dentist, and my neighbor Jessica, a paramedic) took over the rescue efforts. Every two cycles of compressions and breaths, Fred was turned up on his side to expel more of the nasty mixture of fluids he was putting out. The rest of us on board were either trying to stay out of the way or in Clint and my case, helping find the medical equipment the doctor was asking for. She noticed that Fred's stomach was becoming distended from all the fluid, so she attempted to use Oxygen tubing to run down into his stomach to release some of the pressure. She was not able to do it though for reasons I am not sure of because I was doing something else at that point. All of this occurred over about 10 minutes, and then we were finally back in the port where EMS was waiting.
EMS jumped onto the boat and immediately hooked Fred up to the AED. Unfortunately, Fred had no pulse, so the AED would not shock him. They got him on a back board, off the boat, and into the ambulance to head to Camp Lester Naval Hospital. Everyone else began unloading and cleaning the boat and giving contact information to the Military police officer at the scene.
After getting back to the dive shop on Camp Foster, Alan informed us all that Fred was pronounced Dead on Arrival at the Hospital ER. He said everyone had done all they could, but he pretty much knew from the get go that rescue attempts were futile. The doctor from the boat followed the ambulance to the hospital because her and her husband knew Fred fairly well. They said that the cause of death was possible Air Embolism and drowning. Alan then informed everyone of how he found Fred underwater.
Fred as I mentioned was free diving. When he came up for air before his last dive, he mentioned to his friend that he felt a little woozy. Alan was underwater taking video on his camera. He saw Fred descending again and got some footage. He then turned away to video something else. When he turned back in the direction that Fred was in, he saw Fred's fins sticking up on the other side of a ridge of coral. He decided to go see whatever Fred was checking out. When he got to Fred, he found that Fred was no longer swimming. He was face first in the coral, not moving. Alan turned Fred over and discovered that Fred's mask was already full of reddish, yellow/brown liquid. He inflated his BCD and shot them to the surface, at which point all of the above happened. The doctor says she believes Fred experienced a Shallow Water Blackout from hyperventilating trying to go deeper. He basically should have stopped diving when he felt woozy. By holding his breath under water, he probably caused an air embolus, and then when he ran out of breath, he passed out. When he passed out, his body tried to resume breathing, but because he was not using an oxygen tank, he inhaled sea water.
Unfortunately, Fred just pushed himself too far today and it ended up costing him his life. Just a reminder to all the divers out there:
THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF DIVING IS NEVER NEVER NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!
Just a little information about Fred:
Fred was the Vice President of a petroleum shipping company based in San Diego, California. He grew up diving and was very into free diving. He was on a 6 month hiatus from his job and was set to return home in two weeks. He was not married and had no children, but his girlfriend is on a plane as we speak on the way here to visit him. As of right now, I am not sure anyone has been able to contact her about his death.
It is all just very unfortunate for everyone involved. He was a young, healthy guy, but accidents happen. I feel very bad for those on board the boat who have never seen someone die before today. I know that even in my experiences with death it was always been a peaceful thing. This is probably the worst thing many of those people will ever see in their entire lives, and I know many people involved in the CPR efforts are very upset by this.
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