Ayisha
Contributor
Watertown Daily Times | Diver apparently drowns while exploring shipwreck
We were diving in Brockville, Ontario this weekend. The victim was a rebreather diver from New Jersey who died while completing his dive on the Jodrey, a technical wreck, on Friday. I didn't ask what type of rebreather. I was told that the buddy saw the victim looking stressed and he switched to the bailout bottle. He had half an hour of deco left. He then made a beeline for the surface and was seen making a polaris 2 feet out of the water.
I was told that he was probably dead by the time he hit the surface and it seemed to be a heart attack. I asked if it could have been the wrong gas/something to do with the rebreather since he switched to the bailout, but I was told no, it was a heart attack.
My condolences to his family and all those around him.
Diver apparently drowns while exploring shipwreck
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2008
ALEXANDRIA BAY — The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department is investigating the apparent drowning Friday afternoon of a diver near the U.S. Coast Guard station on Wellesley Island.
The victim was unresponsive when pulled by Coast Guard personnel from the St. Lawrence River about 3 p.m., and was taken to River Hospital aboard a Coast Guard craft.
Sheriff John P. Burns said the victim was apparently exploring the Roy A. Jodrey, a ship hauling iron ore that sank Nov. 21, 1974. The 640-foot ship, which split in half, rests at a depth of at least 160 feet.
The shipwreck has been a suspected source of occasional oil sheens on the river.
The craft sank in about five hours, within view of the Coast Guard station. All 29 crew members were rescued.
We were diving in Brockville, Ontario this weekend. The victim was a rebreather diver from New Jersey who died while completing his dive on the Jodrey, a technical wreck, on Friday. I didn't ask what type of rebreather. I was told that the buddy saw the victim looking stressed and he switched to the bailout bottle. He had half an hour of deco left. He then made a beeline for the surface and was seen making a polaris 2 feet out of the water.
I was told that he was probably dead by the time he hit the surface and it seemed to be a heart attack. I asked if it could have been the wrong gas/something to do with the rebreather since he switched to the bailout, but I was told no, it was a heart attack.
My condolences to his family and all those around him.