Diver Rescued - Blue Springs Florida

[DandyDon]

Marianna's Own 'Aquaman': One Cave Diver's Miraculous Rescue and the Man Who Saved Him

Marianna- Divers claim Jackson County is home to some of the best underwater caves in the world. Monday, a team of four experienced cave divers from various parts of the country dove into Blue Springs.
The initial dive was like any other until the team followed a line, or guide, onto the wrong path. Two of the men turned around and two got stuck. One of the men managed to free himself, but the other was not as fortunate.
He somehow managed to continue through the cave hoping to come to a better spot, when the line he was following snapped. He then found himself trapped against the ceiling and running out of oxygen. When his tank ran out, he found a tiny air pocket, hoping to buy himself a few last breaths. But that was when a miracle occurred and changed his fate.
People around town call him 'Aquaman', a hero- both well deserved names. But if you asked him, he'd tell you he's just Edd.
Expert body recovery diver, Edd Sorenson has saved three divers. Until this year, only four people in the world have ever been successfully rescued while cave diving.
Sorenson recounted Monday's rescue with us."The air pocket- it was so small it should have never sustained life that long" said Sorenson. "I figured I was going to be doing a body recovery."
When the three other divers made it to shore, they called the dive shop Sorenson owns in Marianna for help. He told us, he could have never made the rescue without the help of his employees.
"My shop manager, Frank Gonzalez, he did an unbelievable job getting all my stuff ready. He sat in the back of my truck while I did almost 100 MPH down to [Blue Spring]- laying in the back of the truck putting my equipment together. So when we got here, all I had to do was put a suit on."
Sorenson recounted the conversation he had with the rescued diver once the two made it safely to shore. He told the diver had told him he had already accepted his fate. "He knew the carbon dioxide [in the air pocket] was going to take over and put him to sleep. So he said, 'All I could think about is at least it would be painless.'"
Sorenson told us rescue outcomes like Monday's were rare blessings. "Last month when I went in, the previous body recovery dive member said it was going to be impossible because his body was blocking the only way in" he explained. "It looked like it was going to be impossible, but I got him out. His father was shaking my hand, thanking me for bringing his son's body home. Two weeks ago a father was thanking me for bringing his daughter out alive. That's such a better feeling."
And those weren't the only grateful fathers. "I tell people at the gym all the time what a hero my son is here in Florida" Edd's father, Gary Sorenson said. "So they all know I'm a proud Poppa."
Gary was in Marianna visiting from Oregon celebrating his and Edd's birthdays which are just days apart. Edd said Monday's rescue was the best birthday gift he could have received.

Also see Another Cave Diving Rescue At Blue Springs - WMBB News 13 - The Panhandle's News Leader

It's a hobby some say they do for adrenaline, others for the challenge, for one cave diving enthusiast, it was a moment of life or death.
Around noon on Monday, a group of divers made a phone call to Cave Adventurers informing them about a fellow diver who was lost. What happened next determined the difference between a body recovery and a rescue.
"We know exactly what to do, we have everything already pre-prepared, tanks filled, tanks ready to go, everything just needs to be thrown in the back of the truck," says Frank Gonzalez, manager of Cave Adventurers. On Monday, Gonzalez and Edd Sorenson, owner of Cave Adventurers and Cave Instructor, did just that. "He [Gonzalez] laid in the bed of my truck while I drove 90 miles per hour to the site, putting my equipment together," says Sorenson.
Sorenson says from the time he got the call to the time he was in the water at Blue Springs, 11 minutes had passed. He says that is unheard of, but also made a big difference. "It was the difference between bringing out a live individual and a body," says Sorenson.
Sorenson is the owner of Cave Adventurers and has been part of the International Cave Rescue and Recovery Team for 14 years. This rescue is his third, but the diver was the fourth that he saved. However, he says rescues are usually uncommon. "There are no rescues, it's 99.999 percent body recovery," says Sorenson, who says that's one of the first thing his instructor taught him 14 years ago.
On Tuesday, Sorenson was back in the water along with fellow divers to make some repairs to the cave system since he had to cut some of the lines in the cave in order to rescue the diver.
Also in the water on Tuesday was a cave diver from Oklahoma, who heard of the cave diving incident at Cave Adventurers when he went to get equipment for his dive. He says the close call didn't affect his plans to dive. "I think when you're into cave diving, you're either into it or not, and when you're into it, you're not going to stop what you do," explains Nestler. "But the goal is also to learn to make sure you don't have the same accident or mistake happen."
Gonzalez picked up the hobby 9 months ago and says it won't stop him either. "I like things that really aren't necessarily safe, but can be safe when you do it the right way," says Gonzalez. "It's fun, something to get you're adrenaline going."
Sorenson says cave diving is "a calculated risk but with good instruction, it's a pretty safe sport."
Director of Parks and Recycling for Jackson county Chuck Hatcher tells me cave diving brings in 1.5 million dollars and one thousand divers from all over the nation along with 20 different countries this year to the area.

and Man rescued from underwater cave | JCFLORIDAN

Edd Sorenson save d another diver this week—his fourth this year. That makes him responsible for four of the only eight cave rescues on record around the world. Most are body-recovery jobs. Sorenson said Monday’s almost was.
The diver made several mistakes, Sorenson said. First, wearing back-mounted tanks, he went into a narrow passage meant for use by someone wearing a side-mount tank.
He and the three others in his party had gone into the wrong offshoot of the main passage, Sorenson said. He let go of his guide line in trying to squeeze through a narrow passage. But the other three had backed out of the passage after encountering zero-visibility in the tight spot.
When the fourth, who was the first in, didn’t show up back at the main passage, the men tried to find him but, as their air began to run now, two went for help and the other stayed looking for the missing diver.
He had no luck, but back on shore, the two who came out of the water had made contact with just the right person. They called Sorenson’s Cave Adventurers dive shop. The manager, Frank Gonzalez, sprung into action.
He yelled for Sorenson and started getting Sorenson’s gear loaded into a truck. Meanwhile, Sorenson loaded his diver propulsion vehicle – a kind of underwater scooter. Gonzalez got in the bed of the truck and lay down so that he could safely work to fit the pieces of Sorenson’s gear together as Sorenson drove at speeds close to 100 mph to reach Blue Springs where the divers had entered the water. While he suited up, Gonzalez filled him in on all the information he’d gotten from the men who’d called for help.
Only 11 minutes had passed between the time the lost diver’s buddies called and the time Sorenson entered the water. It usually takes a diver 45-50 minutes to get ready and hit the water.
Sorenson found the diver in about 20 minutes. He was almost out of air, and he’d broken the guide line that could have helped him find his way out. He’d then groped and found another line, which he thought was the one he’d dropped, but he was wrong. The line he picked up had led him into a dead end. All the air in his tank was gone, but the bubbles from the exhausted nitrogen-enrich air in his tank had somehow created a very small air pocket in the water that helped him stay alive.
Sorenson estimated the diver had about 5-10 minutes of air left in that supply when he found him, and was near death after some 25 minutes in that spot. He was lethargic, Sorenson said, but survived in part because he did not panic after getting in trouble and was able to use all the air he had left in his tank.
Sorenson, who has participated in many rescue and recovery missions, said many divers who don’t survive died because they stripped off their gear in an uncontrollable panic when they get in trouble.
When Sorenson arrived, the diver was able to stay calm and follow him in their slow trek out on Sorenson’s air, with no visibility most of the way. That he survived until Sorenson got to him was something of a miracle, Sorenson said.
“He was so close to being dead that I’m shocked that he was alive,” Sorenson said . “He was slow responding to my questions. When something like this happens, you start producing and breathing in carbon dioxide, a poisonous gas that makes you really sleepy. He was in a bad spot. If it hadn’t been for the incredibly efficient way my manager used the time we had, I don’t’ know. This would probably have been a recovery, not a rescue.”

 

[Jax]

Thread at http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cave-diving/436645-lost-diver-mill-pond-rescued.html

Video at Another Cave Diving Rescue At Blue Springs - WMBB News 13 - The Panhandle's News Leader

 

[Ayisha]

Wow, Edd Sorenson to the rescue again. And he's responsible for half the cave rescues in the world. He and Frank Gonzalez are quite an amazing team. Surely there's some kind of award for what Edd's accomplished and accomplishing??

 

[DivemasterDennis]

It's nice to see a post here that starts with "Diver Rescued." Edd deserve all the accolades he receives.
DivemasterDennsi

 

[boulderjohn]

Just for perspective...

According to the analysis at this site, through 2010, cave diving deaths world wide were only a few per year, but that number grew by 5 times in 2011, rising to 11.

2012 has been much more deadly, with 18 deaths so far. That is somewhat deceptive, though, for nearly half of those occurred in only two incidents (in Mexico and Italy). There were a total of 4 deaths in the United States, with none of them in the Mill Pond area in Florida.

Here is the point of this perspective: I know of 4 people who were saved moments from death in the Mill Pond in 2012. All were saved by Edd Sorenson.

 

[heavierthanlead]

Jaw dropping. Most "recovery" divers have ominous resumes, even they'd rather not mention. Edd has the distinction of having had a number of his, being walking, talking, breathing souls. There isn't an accolade in the world that approaches the feeling of a parent being given back their kid, alive. The senior Mr. Sorenson, and we as a community, have a LOT to be proud of... AGAIN! Happy Birthday, to both of you!

 

[ajduplessis]

:dropmouth: