Diving After 50

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deepstops

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AFAIK, this is rubbish.... Comments??

Donald Sutherland tells how scuba-diving on the Great Barrier Reef at 72 almost killed him| Showbiz | This is London

Veteran Hollywood actor Donald Sutherland has revealed how he was struck by crippling chest pains – and feared he was going to die – after filming underwater scenes for his latest movie on the Great Barrier Reef.

The 72-year-old star was taken ill after returning to Los Angeles, where he lives, during a break in shooting Fool's Gold – a sunken treasure adventure starring Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson and Ewen Bremner.

"I was out at lunch with my wife, Francine, and I had a pain in my chest that you could not believe," said Canadian-born Sutherland, who gave up smoking and heavy drinking 40 years ago.

"Every time I took a breath, I would scream. It was awful.

"My wife drove me straight to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

"The policeman who took me in – because I couldn't walk – shouted out that I was having a heart attack."

Doctors examined the actor immediately, giving him an MRI and CAT scan and an electrocardiogram test, but could find nothing wrong – despite the intense pain remaining.

Sutherland's own physician and his movie-star son Kiefer rushed to the hospital as the family feared the worst.

But the pain abated after Sutherland was given morphine, and he was allowed home.

But the following day, the actor, who learned to scuba-dive for his role in Fool's Gold, began coughing uncontrollably.

"Finally, I coughed something up," he said.

"I initially thought it was chocolate. But when I looked closer, it was blood. I was pretty scared.

"I called my doctor immediately and went back into the hospital.

"They did a nuclear scan of my lungs and found what looked like a tumour.

"I asked my doctor, 'What does this mean? Is it lung cancer?'

"He said, 'Well, yes, it probably is'."

Sutherland informed the doctor he had to return to Australia to finish filming Fool's Gold – but was told that was impossible.

The actor, however, had other ideas and said to medical staff: "No way. If I've got lung cancer, there's no point staying - and if I don't have lung cancer, there's no point in staying."

Finally he was persuaded to have a bronchoscopy, which diagnoses conditions of the airways.

"So the next day at 8am, they wheeled me into surgery and they were going to give me a general anaesthetic," Sutherland continued.

"I said to them, 'I don't want a general anaesthetic because, at my age, it tears apart pieces of your brain that will never come back'.

"But they insisted they had to dig around in my lungs, so I allowed them to put me under.

"When I came round, the doctor was standing above me.

"The first thing that he said was, 'You haven't been scuba-diving, have you?'

"I said I had and asked him why. He said, 'Because you have a broken blood vessel in your lung. What we thought was maybe a tumour is, in fact, the clotted blood surrounding a broken bronchial blood vessel'.

"It was a big relief, but then the specialist told me I shouldn't have been scuba-diving beyond the age of 50.

"When I went back to Australia a few days later, I told the diving master on the film what had happened and he said, 'Oh God'.

"Then I told him, 'Apparently I'm not supposed to dive after 50 and I'm 72!'"

The actor says the diving master then confessed: "I know, I know, but I'm diving and my doctor told me I had to stop at 50 – and I'm nearly 60." Sutherland went on: "So my wife, who is there with me, says I can't dive any more. And then the other guy says, 'Yeah. I know. A guy near where we live went in. He was 72 and had an embolism and died'.

"I was not happy."
 
Granted, I'm not a doctor but my only comment is that no matter what your age is, following your training significantly reduces the risks of something like this happening. I can only imagine what kind of ascent and descent rates were being done during the filming of a Hollywood movie.
 
I've heard of publicity stunts before but this one reaches a new low. Some washed up actors will do anything to get some press. I guess he's jealous of Matthew and his studly physique.
 
After 30 years of being dry I got recertified at 50. My doctor had no problem signing my medical waiver. Only thing she did was do my yearly physical, including an EKG, and at 50 was a good idea anyway.
 
This is complete horse crap. One of my favorite students was a 76 year old woman that I did her AOW class. She provided the proper medical release and continues to dive to this day (I still get post cards of her adventures diving around the world), seven years after I did her class! It is important that seniors keep physically active and I can think of no better way to keep physically active with less strain on joints, limbs, and muscles than diving.
 
Granted, I'm not a doctor but my only comment is that no matter what your age is, following your training significantly reduces the risks of something like this happening. I can only imagine what kind of ascent and descent rates were being done during the filming of a Hollywood movie.

Now the medical advice in the article about not divng past 50 in just a bunch of bull but having worked on and know others that have worked on movies and documentaries I bet the ascent rates etc were quite safe. Most movies etc that have diving involved have staff specifically hired to ensure the safety of the "talent". So your imagination should proabably have very slow ascents and safety stops in it.
 
Sutherland's problem may have been precipitated by years of heavy smoking and drinking in his younger years... Probably no way to know.

I'm two weeks shy of 54 and have no intention of stopping or slowing down. I do take my time now, and pay more attention to ascent rates and safety stops.

Bonaire in two weeks, Cozumel in April.
 
Yikes, if I followed Sutherland's doctor's advice, I must be dead already. My most intensive, and deepest, diving began after I turned 50. I'm 60 now. I think I'm in "better" shape to do it since I stopped smoking in my late 20's, but did smoke during portions of the 60's and 70's when I was young and foolish... and diving! Perhaps, as was suggested above, Sutherland's lifestyle early on may have played a role in this incident. I can't say since I never partied with him!

Of course this does not mean that some individuals should probably not continue past a given age, that to be determined by their state of physical fitness. Heck, I've sen a number of twenty-somethings that I don't think should be diving due to health reasons. They probably spend too much time on ScubaBoard... er, I mean playing video games on their computers (right NetDoc?).
 
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