Another Florida Mini-Season Accident

[SandyBramm]

I thought I would put up a nice picture of Mike....this is him wearing his uniform at the Maritime Academy in Mass. We like everyone to please take a brief few seconds on your next dive to think of him, and send him positive energy! Thank you...the crew of Sandy's Sunday.

 

[Rusty Nail]

It's a tragedy that someone so young lost his life.
i never realized diving was so hard on the heart. It seems to me, the majority of the articles I read involving a diving fatality tend to lean toward a heart condition. Is it just me or is there something to this?

 

[Bestshooter]

Wow Sandy,
i dove with you guys last lobster season. I believe mike dove with us on that trip . He is a great guy . We are wishing him a speedy recovery and hope he can get back to diving soon.
james

Hello everyone. This is Sandy of Ocean Quest Scuba and I greatly appreciate the kind words posted for Mike. He is a fine young man of rare caliber, character and is kind and the hardest working kid I have ever known. He has been with us for 4 years, he was certified by me an made such a impression on us that we gave him a job. Mike was the top of his class in high school and sailer of the quarter at the Maritime Academy in Mass. Where he will be a sophomore this next year. I know all of you are curious as to what happened but Mike didn't have a dive accident. He didn't violate his computer or our protocols, he had air in his tank, he was back onboard visiting with customers, had changed his shirt and there were never any signs from him that he didn't feel well. He just collapsed, we started EMS protocol immediately and we were just minutes from our dock and the rescue ran smoothly with the assistance from the Coast Guard, Marine Patrol, and our marina staff. He was taken by ambulance to St Mary's and then transferred to Palm Beach Gardens. We were told that evening that they believed it to be a heart failure, with that being said though there are still no definite answers. And yes, although rare young people can have heart trouble. It's possible he had a blood clot some where, regardless now is the time for prayers, well wishes and positive energy for Mike and his family. This is a very stressful and painful time all of us involved and we really could use the support of our fellow divers. Thank you for your time and I appreciate the Pm to let me know about this thread. Stay safe. Captain Sandra.

 

[DandyDon]

It's a tragedy that someone so young lost his life.
i never realized diving was so hard on the heart. It seems to me, the majority of the articles I read involving a diving fatality tend to lean toward a heart condition. Is it just me or is there something to this?

He has not passed, unless I missed something?! The latest news is he's still being treated.

Cardiac arrest is often mentioned, commonly called heart attack, but that's really the final call - not necessarily the cause.

 

[Abdullah]

I wonder then what brought on the heart attack! I doubt is was from clogged arteries or plaque.
Best wishes in his recovery!

A similar thing happened to my brother, who was in great shape, with no history of heart disease. He was sitting in a meeting and just slumped over in his chair. His coworkers saw he wasn't breathing, started CPR, and de-fibbed him with the AED. He was diagnosed with sudden cardiac arrest, caused by a "chemical" issue that is treated with a pacemaker, no issues since. He described the event as getting a warm feeling, light headed, then passing out - no pain, no warning. His doctor told me the AED his coworkers used in the first couple minutes saved his life. +1 for AED's.

Best wishes on a rapid recovery!

 

[tracydr]

I wonder then what brought on the heart attack! I doubt is was from clogged arteries or plaque.
Best wishes in his recovery!

No, probably a case of arrythmia. Every year in the Army we would see one or two 19-20 year olds with sudden cardiac death.
It could also be pulmonary edema.
We also had a few cases of young soldiers who needed pacemakers for various reasons. I had one young guy who had a heart rate of 21 when he came in to sick call. He had passed out in his room after PT and his First Sgt and the PA at sick call thought he was malingering. They forgot, though, to take his vital signs.

---------- Post added July 28th, 2013 at 06:10 PM ----------

A similar thing happened to my brother, who was in great shape, with no history of heart disease. He was sitting in a meeting and just slumped over in his chair. His coworkers saw he wasn't breathing, started CPR, and de-fibbed him with the AED. He was diagnosed with sudden cardiac arrest, caused by a "chemical" issue that is treated with a pacemaker, no issues since. He described the event as getting a warm feeling, light headed, then passing out - no pain, no warning. His doctor told me the AED his coworkers used in the first couple minutes saved his life. +1 for AED's.

Best wishes on a rapid recovery!

Thank god they had an AED and fast thinkers!

 

[scuba5150]

Almost every year you hear of an apparently healthy young person dying unexpectedly, oftentimes during practice in various sports like football and basketball. The following information is from the Mayo Clinic web site and points out several conditions that can account for an unexpected cardiac event in a young person.

Sudden death in young people ? Heart problems often blamed - MayoClinic.com

"Some specific causes of sudden cardiac death in young people include:

• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This is a disease in which the heart muscle (myocardium) becomes abnormally thick, making it harder for the heart to pump blood. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, while usually not fatal in most people, is the most common cause of heart-related sudden death in people under 30. It's the most common cause of sudden death in athletes. HCM often goes undetected.
• Coronary artery abnormalities. Sometimes people are born with heart arteries (coronary arteries) that are connected abnormally. The arteries can become compressed during exercise and not provide proper blood flow to the heart.
• Long QT syndrome (LQTS). Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an inherited heart rhythm disorder that can cause fast, chaotic heartbeats. The rapid heartbeats, caused by changes in the part of your heart that causes it to beat, may lead to fainting, which can be life-threatening. In some cases, your heart's rhythm may be so erratic that it can cause sudden death. Young people with long QT syndrome have an increased risk of sudden death.

There are other causes of sudden cardiac death in young people. These include structural abnormalities of the heart, including unrecognized congenital heart disease and heart muscle abnormalities. Other causes include inflammation of the heart muscle, which can be caused by viruses and other illnesses. In addition to long QT syndrome, there are other abnormalities of the heart's electrical system, such as Brugada syndrome, which can cause sudden death."

I sincerely hope Mike can recover.

 

[mselenaous]

This was posted this evening on Ocean Quest Scuba's Facebook page:

Ocean Quest Scuba is closed for the next few days, please leave us messages, or email us for information on upcoming charters. We appreciate the calls, texts and emails during this very hard time. We are going to spend the next few days trying to help Mikes family in anyway possible. There will be a fund set up in Mike's name to help them with final arrangements and such. We will pass that information on ASAP. Please consider sending "one days worth of dive money" to help out...and pay tribute to this fine young man, that has touched so many of our hearts! This a is very personal and tragic loss for us, so please understand if we don't get right back to you.

My condolences and prayers to the Ocean Quest Scuba Family, to Mike's Family, Friends, and his fans. Words can never adequately express the sorrow the local community will feel from his loss.

 

[Tom Winters]

A 19 year old with a heart attack????

Geez...I'm sitting here thinking the same thing.

 

[SandyBramm]

Hello! I know it's been almost a year since this thread was started...I was just looking on SB and ran across it again, and I realized I have never got back on here and thanked everyone in our local dive community and on SB for all of the love and support we were shown. We miss Mike with all our hearts, and to this very day, we still have more questions than answers. It was determined that Mike had no signs of having suffered a DCS hit, or anything related to his dives. He had be violently sick to his stomach a few days earlier, but had seemed to have recovered from that bug just fine....anyway! I wanted to let you know anyone that might wonder, that we've tried to carry on and do positive things in Mike's memory. We've issued serval scholorships for courses in Mikes name to other fine young people. We've stayed close to his family, and try to be there for them anyway we can. His brother John is doing well in school, and is playing Rugby! Ocean Quest Scuba is a proud sponsor of him...we keep our eye out and try to be "big sisters" to him whenever we can. Mike's high school and the academy both did memorials for Mike, and his classmates at the Academy will carry him with them all the way to graduation.

We received cards, phone calls, text messages, fb messages from hundreds of divers that remembered diving on our boat...and how great Mike was...his family recieved a very considerable amount of donations from them as well. We are very grateful for the support, love and just plain kindness that Vicki, Derek, and myself recieved during this time. We still have our teary eyed moments, and it's hard sometimes, because it is so apparent that we are missing him...but we continue to dive in his memory, and for him. Thank you to everyone that helped us through that difficult time....I am sorry it took me so long to thank you.... Take care and safe diving to you all this summer!!