9-19-04 A Day I will not soon forget!

[keyspearfisher]

Sunday marked the one year anniversery of the death of Carson Young in a diving accident. So Johnylongblades and I went out diving together to remember the day. John and Carson were very good friends and it only seemed appropriate to share his memory diving.
The day started by me calling Mobile diver to see what he was up to in the Keys. We decided to meet up at the Thunderbolt and do some spearing. John and I were at the wreck and completed our first dive when steve arrived with several member of Spearboard.(sorry guys I don't remeber everone's names, but Steve can list them all.) We talked, gave them a vis report and they all dove the wreck. After an hour John and I suited up and headed back in. Going down the mooring line I saw Dagodiver and Steve coming up. Steve had a nice yellowtail snapper in tow.
Making a trip around the bow we didn't see many fish so we headed to some structure near the wreck. I pointed out a large lobster to John and since he has faster hands that me he quickly snatched it up. The cries from the lobster attracted a Black that I them shot. Stringing the Black I saw three more over my shoulder and signaled to john. The limited vis made it so them scattering gave them another day to live. We headed back towards the wreck and about half way ther I told John we should back track and see if any had come in to check out the death of there brother.
On the way back to the structure out of the corner of my eye I saw John swimming up. I turned in time to see him swimming hard for the surface. And I'm thinking to myself there must be a big Amberjack hovering above us. Then it happened.
John went limp, his hands opened and his gun dropped. That is when I knew he was in trouble. At that moment of relaxation his regulator also fell out of his mouth. By the time that I reached him about twenty feet above me he was completely rigid. His arms where straight out in front of him and he was folded into a C shape. Grabbing him, I tried to put my reg in his mouth but it was clamped closed. Swimming toward the surface as fast as possibble I undid his weight belt and kept a close eye on his mouth.
It seemed like an eternity swimming toward the surface. The thoughts that ran through my head ranged from, what the hell happened; to you can't die on me, not today. I would look like an ass if you died on your friends anniversery.( amazingly selfish thoughts) When we broke the surface I was screaming his name and inflating BCs. I yelled out for Mobile diver to get over here. After about thirty second John started very labored breathing but was still out.
John was loaded on Steve's boat, the Coast Gaurd was called, and they headed for the boat ramp. I swam back to my boat and caught up to them just as John was regaining conciousness. Thirty minutes after we surfaced he said that he was Ok. The ambulance and the sheriff where wating for us at the boat ramp. While I was answering questions John was trying to refuse service and treatment. He had no recollection of the second dive and thought that he had just woke up from a nap on Mobile diver's boat. I went to the ambulance and told him the story.
He is now at Mercy hospital in Miami making a full recovery. I would like to personaly thank everyone invovled on Sunday. Thanks, Brian

[kitefisherman]

Brian, thank God that you were there and aware of what was going on! I wish John all the best in his speedy recovery. Thanks for the report and please keep us updated.

[dagodiver]

Brian,
Great to hear John is doing fine, please keep us posted.
There is no replacement for a good aware dive buddy thanks again for acting in the manner you did I truly believe it saved a life.

Dago.

[diligaf]

Brain,

That is some scary stuff. Thank God everything turned out for the best. It sure makes you wonder and realize anything can happen, anytime. Good job!

Dave

[biggsy]

Wow, thank god you were keeping an eye on him. Good work.

[Charlestondivin]

Holy Cow! Great Job Brian! What caused him to lose consciousness?

[Old Bateman]

Brian,
Too many times I find myself losing sight of my partner. This will be in the back of my mind now. Thanks for saving Johny, and for posting the story which may save lives in the future.

[Divin' fool]

Wow...glad you were there to save the day.
Just one more reason to try and stay near your partner..... unfortunately, something I seldom do.

[junior]

Brian - Good job on the rescue dude. Any idea what happened to cause this? Did he have air left in his tank? Diving nitrox?

[fizisition]

Wow ,that sounded like a real close call.What was the cause of Johnny to lose consciousness?

[dagodiver]

After John seemed to be doing better, i did a gear check and everything seemed to be in order.
plenty of gas in tank.
mix was good for the planned depth.
regs worked fine.
???????
Dago.

[Mobile Diver]

Brian,

Thanks for the post. I wanted you to do it since you saw everything. I didn't know his reg came out under water, I thought it stayed in. John is very lucky he didn't inhale water. I take it the folks at Mercy haven't reached any conclusion on the source of this episode?

Take care,
Steve

[Mobius1]

Hmm that sounds like of like a sesiure...
the clenched jaw the ridgid body i think it was a sesiure

[wildlife]

C'mon Brother, tell em the rest of the story. I know you are modest, but as I understand it " All the way back to meet the ambulance at the dock, Steve had to use the wash down to rinse the blood off the deck from the inch long gash in his leg from the barracuda he stabbed and which bit him while the Cuda was trying to steal his yellowtail." Shouldn't have done it Cuda. "At the dock, he got a little help from the paramedics with some H2O3 and a pressure bandage. Loaded and cleaned the boat, got something to eat, got a motel, took a shower, and then grabbed his first aid kit and stitched up his own wound." After all, why wait in the ER when it will only take you an hour to do it yourself after you clean your boat and a meal to steady your nerves. A man must have his priorities. I predict that someday Brother will S@#$ in a bag.

[keyspearfisher]

John and I were diving 32 nitrox on both the first and second dive. My max depth for the first dive was 121, and the second was 122. Unless John found a hole in the ocean floor his were the same. My PO2's were 1.49 and 1.5. We ended our dive with about 1500 pounds in our aluminum 80 tanks.
The doctors there are leaning to Oxygen toxicity at this point, because all of his tests (MRI and Cat scans etc...) don't show any negative results. The first round in the chamber yeilded excellent results in getting rid of his double vision and dizzyness. Four more treatments and he will be released.

[zds3488]

Originally posted by wildlife
, he got a little help from the paramedics with some H2O3

Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2.

[ScottZeagle]

Great to see that the high priced education is paying off, Doogie!!

Nice job Brian!!! Your friend is very lucky that you were an alert and attentive dive buddy!!! The rest of us should hope to be so lucky!!!

Scott

[Md Spear]

MMM Bummer ! Good thing you were there Brian.. Good thing 2 boats w/ Mobile Diver .

[junior]

Originally posted by keyspearfisher
The first round in the chamber yeilded excellent results in getting rid of his double vision and dizzyness. Four more treatments and he will be released.

Sounds like you avoided taking a hit Brian. That's good news. Hopefully Johnny makes a full recovery and he can dive again.

[dagodiver]

Originally posted by keyspearfisher
John and I were diving 32 nitrox on both the first and second dive. My max depth for the first dive was 121, and the second was 122. Unless John found a hole in the ocean floor his were the same. My PO2's were 1.49 and 1.5. We ended our dive with about 1500 pounds in our aluminum 80 tanks.
The doctors there are leaning to Oxygen toxicity at this point, because all of his tests (MRI and Cat scans etc...) don't show any negative results. The first round in the chamber yeilded excellent results in getting rid of his double vision and dizzyness. Four more treatments and he will be released.


Brian,
Thanks for the update please keep us up to date.
thanks again
Dago.

[dagodiver]

Originally posted by wildlife
C'mon Brother, tell em the rest of the story. I know you are modest, but as I understand it " All the way back to meet the ambulance at the dock, Steve had to use the wash down to rinse the blood off the deck from the inch long gash in his leg from the barracuda he stabbed and which bit him while the Cuda was trying to steal his yellowtail." Shouldn't have done it Cuda. "At the dock, he got a little help from the paramedics with some H2O3 and a pressure bandage. Loaded and cleaned the boat, got something to eat, got a motel, took a shower, and then grabbed his first aid kit and stitched up his own wound." After all, why wait in the ER when it will only take you an hour to do it yourself after you clean your boat and a meal to steady your nerves. A man must have his priorities. I predict that someday Brother will S@#$ in a bag.

No Sh$# talk about grace under pressure..!!
You should have seen the Cuda that was still messing with him,
i had to keep kicking him in the head, alot of good that was doing
but i still had some deco time and couldnt help much.
Thanks again Captain Steve.
Dago

[Spear337]

What a day!!! I was there along with Brian, Steve, Mike and his friend, and Mobile Diver. Brian, I am glad to hear Johnny is doing better. It seems like it was toxicity but of course, let me know like the rest of us. Mobile Diver, one comment for you, it takes big cojones to come back to the dock, get bandaged, clean up the boat, get a meal, and do your own stitches! You sure have your priorities in order. Oh yeah, don't forget to mention the surgical procedure you did on the cuda's brain to get your speartip back! I'm glad everyone was okay and I hope people wake up and realize the importance of a good buddy. And I refer back to the Itsy Bitsy tip thread...NEVER DIVE ALONE!

[f94gator]

Damn guys, that's some scary sh*t. Hope he makes quick recovery, and damn good job dealing with the situation!

[Marcus]

Wow. Exciting story! Right here in our own group of speardivers. Glad that every thing came out all right, kind of...:(

[fizisition]

Originally posted by keyspearfisher
John and I were diving 32 nitrox on both the first and second dive. My max depth for the first dive was 121, and the second was 122. Unless John found a hole in the ocean floor his were the same. My PO2's were 1.49 and 1.5. We ended our dive with about 1500 pounds in our aluminum 80 tanks.
The doctors there are leaning to Oxygen toxicity at this point, because all of his tests (MRI and Cat scans etc...) don't show any negative results. The first round in the chamber yeilded excellent results in getting rid of his double vision and dizzyness. Four more treatments and he will be released.

Brian, was Johnny's tank reanalyzed to make sure it was really 32?

[Mobile Diver]

Brian,

Glad John is doing well. I really wonder if we will ever know what caused this.

All,

The Cuda story hardly seemed worth mentioning after what happened to John. Don't know what it is with fish biting me: a GG on the Fantastico & now a Cuda on the Bolt. I can't win.

[SpearDiverTampa]

Great job Bryan, Steve, and the rest of the crew! You're a hero Bryan, and the king of the Thunderbolt for sure! Looking forward to Jonny making a full recovery.
-Chris

[keyspearfisher]

The Sheriff still has John's tank and BC. You can rest assured it will be checked again. The funny thing is that we checked both tanks he was diving twice, with two different O2 analizers. The chances of them both being wrong is pretty slim.
SpearDiverTampa, I'm no hero. Just taking care of my responsibilties as a diver and friend. And most of all I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. It could have easily turned out much different given ten more feet in either direction.

[Spear337]

Brian,
How's John doing? Please send him my get well wishes. You should be proud of yourself for realizing the seriousness of the situation and for doing the right thing right away. John was lucky to have you as a buddy on the dive. Why does the sherriff still have John's tank and BC? Are they plannin on going after the dive shop that filled your tanks? I found it kind of weird that the police were on the scene too. I guess to make sure there was no negligence or foul play on anyone's part. What is John's name on Spearboard? Johnnylongblades? Once again, you should feel good about what you did, and I'm glad I was able to be of assistance to you and Johnny.

[Chad Carney]

Brian,

God job man, you have to feel good about being there for him!
This story makes us all realize how often we would not have been there.

I'm only wondering about something, of course there's not enough information to go on for even a good guess. I could be totally thinking the wrong way here, but your observation just maybe says a couple things. Originally posted by keyspearfisher
On the way back to the structure out of the corner of my eye I saw John swimming up. I turned in time to see him swimming hard for the surface. And I'm thinking to myself there must be a big Amberjack hovering above us. Then it happened.
John went limp, his hands opened and his gun dropped. That is when I knew he was in trouble. At that moment of relaxation his regulator also fell out of his mouth. By the time that I reached him about twenty feet above me he was completely rigid. His arms where straight out in front of him and he was folded into a C shape.

.
"John and I were diving 32 nitrox on both the first and second dive. My max depth for the first dive was 121, and the second was 122. Unless John found a hole in the ocean floor his were the same. My PO2's were 1.49 and 1.5." "We checked both tanks he was diving twice, with two different O2 analizers. "

You saw him swimming up, and swimming up hard, he was twenty feet above you. His PO2 was probably 1.3 or 1.2 by that point, and falling. You had a good surface interval and it doesn't sound like you were down real long on the second dive. I wonder about the O2 hit theory? O2 toxicty is caused by a dose of PO2 and time. (Sure it can be aggravated by exertion, but still I wonder?)

"We ended our dive with about 1500 pounds in our aluminum 80 tanks. "
A diver can get into a heavy CO2 breathing tailspin while chasing fish, in a strong current? It can feel like you're not getting enough air and it feeds on itself. Low O2 can cause blackout and clenched arms, etc. It happens mostly on ascent.

I blacked out once during a long static breath hold in a pool. I was definitely rigid. Without help I would have drown. I had impaired judgement before the blackout, and no memory of it afterwards.
We normally think of a blackout only happening while freediving but it's definitely possible if a scuba diver were working really hard, maybe also had a poor breathing regulator, and was not getting sufficient O2. An embolism could occur too.

We'll probably never know what happened to Carson, there was no observer or rescuer like you. I wondered about him too.

Again, way to go! You are a hero!

Chad

[Charlestondivin]

Is Jonny a DAN member?

[keyspearfisher]

Charleston, John is not a DAN member to my knowledge. He is an EMT with insurance though.


Chad, we were not working hard on this dive. The vis was bad and we were not swimming hard at all. We were in fact calling in the fish with the lobster that John had gotten. It was one of the more relaxed dives that I can remember in a while. Your insight is greatly apprieciated, I'm sure you have been through some strange situations being an instructor.

[keyspearfisher]

John is on his way home to Key West right now. Yeah! I'm sure he can and will add his side to this story.

[Mobile Diver]

Great news, Brian.

[Doc]

I pretty much agree with chad that this really does not sound to me like a seizure for several reasons. First, he was rushing to the surface; when people seize they typically have no warning; but he knew something was wrong obviously. He also initially went limp; most true seizures will start with spasm. Third the description of his posturing during the event is pretty atypical for a true seizure, and there is no mention of tonic-clonic (rythmic jerking) activity. Whatever caused this; Im just really glad he is alright. Seems like everybody on site did evrything right in helping him out. Strong work Brian.

[biggsy]

Glad to hear he is heading home!

[dagodiver]

Good to hear.!!!
thanks for the update.
Dago.

[JohnyLongblades]

I just wanted to let everyone know I am back in Key West. I still have one more test to be completed before I am allowed to drive. As far as that day goes, THANK YOU for you all being there for me. I am very sorry to ruin your charter for the day steve. If you need anything as far as compensation for calling the charter short, let me know. I still can't believe that this happened. Like Brian said, it was a very easy going dive. The first dive went excellent, we allowed enough S.I time for the second dive, got down, I think i shot a baby grouper, grabbed a lobster, remember seeing Brian shoot a nice black and then thats when my vision started to get screwed up. everything was turning black, I remember thinking that I should probably call the dive, but I was still on the bottom, from that point on i can't recall anything. I woke up briefly on the boat, and saw dagodiver looking at me, and asking if i was ok. I was just wondering why they seemed so worried about me, I thought I was just taking a nap on the way in, since I do that alot. The next thing I remember is pulling up to the dock and seeing an ambulance, and cops. I was thinking "what the heck happened, I hope everyone is ok" then they were all paying attention to me, Brian said that I did not want to go with them. I do not remember anything untill I was at the hospital and Brian, and my ex- girlfriend were standing next to the bed. I then woke up on a helicopter, to this beautiful flight medic that i used to work w/ in the FD. I think I might have tried to say something to her, but quickly was out again. I ended up in intensive care at mercy hospital, with numerous doctors and nurses coming in and out, poking and proding me, asking questions, and doing all kinds of tests. They gave me my last hyperbaric chamber treatments yesterday and last night. I am feeling pretty normal now. the doctors think that it was O2 toxicity, but i just dont understand how it could be with that mix and depth. But who knows, all that matters is that brian was looking out for me, and saved my ass. I would not wish that on anyone. The doctors said that I am able to free dive now, but not dive for atleast 3 months. They expect me to be completely back to normal within those 3 months. Once again thank you to everyone that was there for everything you did!!! -JLB

[Steel Shootin']

Johnny, glad you're back at home and doing well. I am just reading this now. Wow, thank God Brian was paying attention. Great work, Brian.

[Slay Ride]

Scary stuff man. Glad to hear you're back at home. Take care. Les

[Stodelle]

I saw this on the Brady Bunch once, you are indebted to him forever and will be his personal servent.

Just trying to lighten the moment. Glad you are okay.

[dagodiver]

JLB,
Glad your feeling better and getting back to normal.
Sorry you had to wake up and see my ugly face asking if you were OK but what the hell.:)

Get some rest and get well soon.
The next trip is on me, you guys have to show me how to shoot all those fish.
Thanks again Brian and Steve for saving the day.


Dago.

[keyspearfisher]

Doc, John was having a seizure underwater. You could feel the waves of tension rolling through his body. He felt almost like an electric fence. If you have ever touched one you know what I mean. His body was rigid all the way to the boat. What caused the episode is yet to be determined.

[spear_friend]

and i was with you every time steve(mobil diver)when that happen. dousnt that tell you something ...LOL good to hear john is ok . and wish him a speedy recovery...besides everything else .we all had a good time on steve's boat. the divers that were there was spear_friend. spear337 dagodiver and his friend mobil diver keyspearfisher and john and cuda that got steve lol

[Mobile Diver]

JLB,

Don't worry about the charter; we all do what we have to. I know you would have done the same for me. We are all just happy you're fine. Get healthy & come diving with me sometime.

Take care,
Steve

[JohnyLongblades]

Hey steve, how is your leg doing?? I hope its ok. JLB

[Mobile Diver]

JLB,

It is healing well. I'll take the stitches out Sunday. My CG corpsman training came in handy. Thanks for asking.

Take care,
Steve

[Spear337]

JLB,

Im glad to hear you're okay. Its great news that you're back home. Don't worry about cutting the charter short, we did what we had to do for you. Like Steve said, you would have done the same. I hope we can all plan a dive on Steve's charter in the future. I wish you a speedy recovery!

Lee

[Denny]

Brian- Nice work. JLB lives because you have your sh*t together.
Steve- You are a true pro.
JLB- Glad to hear from you. My wishes for the speediest of recoveries.

[spear_friend]

WELL JLB, I HEARD YOU CANT GO DIVING FOR 3 MONTHS ... WELL NOW YOU CAN GET SOME PRACTICE IN BEING THE ANCHOR BIT** NOW ....LOL GLAD TO HEAR YOU ARE DOING OK. LOOKING FORWARD TO DIVE WITH YOU AGAIN ...

[thehead]

somebody owes somebody else BEER FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!

[IyaDiver]

A friend in need is a friend in deed...well done Key, good thing you are there !!

[spear_friend]

JBL. glad to hear your home now . dont rush to get back diving , get plenty of rest . the fish aint going anywhere ...ill have the boat back, bye that time you be ready ill bring it down and ill take you and some other guys to do some diving ..good luck. let me know when your ready...steve