TexasScuba53:
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I did not expect (at last count 151 replies and 25 PMs)!! Be that as it may, I thank the majority of individual respondents for getting it. It appears there are a handful of individuals (especially MikeF and DanG) who for some reason dont think I/we learned anything from the experience. In order to alleviate their concerns, let me see if I can list some (certainly not ALL) of the salient points:
#1 My wife and I need more training and specifically cave diver training (as previously stated we are going for our rescue certs provided my wife is willing to get back in the water. I think Ill avoid the cave cert since I have no desire to dive caves).
#2 I caused the accident by not being a good buddy or being well trained
#3 My wife caused the accident by not being well trained
#4 The DM caused the accident since he shouldnt have let us go down there due to 1, 2, & 3 above.
#5 The DO caused the accident by allowing the DM to take us to the dive
#6 Choice of DO doesnt matter as long as one is cave trained
#7 No need to know of a good Doctor in Coz if one has been cave trained
#8 No need to know of a good hospital in Coz if one has been cave trained
#9 No need for DAN insurance if one has been cave trained
I think that covers most of what has been posted by the folks who didnt understand my original posting. As info, we are not idiots, we realize if we could do it all over we would do a lot of things differently. We also feel extremely blessed that God allowed my wife to survive this accident and provided a tragic glimpse of what can happen.
We also now know what rape victims feel like when they go to trial and the defense attorney makes them feel the rape was their fault. We wish we had the power to go back in time and do it all over with this invaluable advice, but we cant. All we can do is learn from the experience and look forward to being better divers in the future.
Lastly and most importantly, we truly have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and all the Thanksgivings to come. The life lessons we gained from this experience far outweigh any of the diving lessons we learned!!!
I am, and I'm sure everyone else here is, very glad that you and your wife are ok.
I was kind of appalled, like a few others had mentioned, at your seemingly cavalier attitude towards this event that came within a hair's breath of killing your wife.
I'm sure there are many emotions going on right now, but I took much of your posts as "Oh well, luckily we are ok, no harm no foul. Stuff is going to happen anyway so I really don't want to hear about what I could have done or what I could do in the future to keep this from happening again".
The things that MikeF, Dan, and a few others have said were in an effort to 1- make sure that you don't have a dive in the future where you have to go through an incident like this or worse again, and 2- help other people think more about the type of diving they are ready (prepared for menatally and physically, trained for, etc.) to do. Just because someone is offered a dive, does not mean it is always a good idea to do the dive. If you refuse to even consider what they are saying because you feel you are being personally attacked you might be missing a point that could help you in the future.
TexasScuba53:
We also now know what rape victims feel like when they go to trial and the defense attorney makes them feel the rape was their fault.
Wow, you really think your little experience here is the equal to being a rape victim?
Of your nine points above, it was really #1,2, and 3 that most people were addressing. I'd say 4 and 5 could be argued too, but I think that people are responsible for themselves. So you are complaining now that a few people on here are making you feel like this is your fault? This issue is nothing like a rape, someone did not sneak up on your wife, rip her reg out, stuff her in a different tunnel, and make her breathe water. Your sarcastic listing of points aside, whos fault do YOU think this was? Not wanting to listen to good advice because you don't want to hear that you and/or your wife was responsible for this incident is an unsafe attitude.
I certainly hope that you and your wife enjoy many happy future dives.