Hearing about Kimber has really shaken me up

[TSandM]

About ten years ago, a colleague of mine was diagnosed with cancer. He was my age, and the illness was definitely life-threatening. It made me sit down and reevaluate what I was doing with my life, and I made the decision then that putting things off for later could easily result in never doing them at all, because later doesn't always come for all of us. So I've tried to do as much NOW as I can do in a responsible fashion.

At the same time, I think Scuba said it well . . . when you engage in activities with a real possibility of injury, you have to decide whether the joy from the activity is worth the risk you take. I gave up skiing after the third broken bone because I simply didn't love skiing enough to keep breaking things doing it. On the other hand, I still ride horses, and I've had many more fractures as a result of doing that -- but I love it enough to make the risk worth while, and I have revised what I do to try to reduce the risk. (I no longer break horses, for example.)

I've fallen so in love with diving that I'm willing to assume the risks that go along with doing it. At the same time, I've taken steps to mitigate the risks I can. Statistically, I'm probably still more likely to get killed on the highway, anyway

 

[shellbackdiver1]

Gentlemen,

unless any of you is psychic, we still don't know what exactly happened and what the cause of it was. Please refrain from speculation.

Thank you.

Fine....understood. Sounds to me like something is being hidden therefore giving us reasons to speculate.

I dont wanna hear anything cause i want to feel good this weekend when I go diving. Scuba diving is not like playing volleyball. Somebody gets hurt playing volleyball it does not take alot brains to figure out why....slipped, fell, twisted ankle/knee/wrist. Didnt cover face when ball spiked equals broken nose.

We have chemical, physical and biological changes when diving. We also have stress, emotion and logical thinking to deal with under adverse conditions. Its complicated....its why we divers want to know what happened and why. Not for personel satisfaction to get a quick high from knowing somebodys fault while diving.

 

[H2Andy]

Fine....understood. Sounds to me like something is being hidden therefore giving us reasons to speculate.

:shakehead

hidden? what is this, Washington Week in Review? guys, this is not t.v
this is not Fox News.

this is about a person who is gravely ill, and her family want privacy and have
asked people not to talk about it.

so let's shut up about it

 

[shellbackdiver1]

You are right....lets remove the thread

 

[fairybasslet]

You are right....lets remove the thread

I hardly think removing the thread is the answer. And not because I started it, but because it was a visceral reaction I had yesterday and I needed to share it with a community of people who could understand it, interpret it, and give me some good objective advice, for which I thank everyone who took the time to assuage those doubts I felt. That some people cannot refrain from turning this into something else is unfortunate. Their posts should be removed, not the entire thread. I can't tell you how much people's honest responses, retelling of their stories, etc. has helped me. Thank you.

 

[AquaHump]

About 15 years before I started diving a very good frind of mine was doing a dive on the Moonstone. That is a wreck of the shore of NJ/DE she is a kinda deep in about 130 fsw.
http://www.njscuba.net/sites/chart_deep_sea.html#Moonstone

He left work and told me he was going to bring some lobster back. he never came home. he was diving independent doubles and had a problem and got to his buddy a bit to late and ended up going unresponsive at max depth, he died. He had been trying to get me to dive and after that happend I said I would never dive. well then I got in the water in Coz and said I had to do it. once I got into it I relized I had to become a tech diver. I wanted to dive wrecks.
Then and only then did I relize that Life ends one way or the other. and while tragidy is somthing to analize to make sure we dont make the same mistakes it is no reson to shunt up and die. We live and understand and try to stay alive as long as we can. but if we stop doing what we love are we living, or just being?

 

[RJTY]

I think that if I were hurt and unable to communicate, the last thing my family would be concerned about would be to update and inform people they dont even know on the internet. I dont know the person in question at all, but from what I read, there a many members here that do know her and are very concerned. There is a good chance that the family is not aware of the type of relationship you have with her. I am sure they have there hands full. My thoughts and prayers go to both her and her family.

 

[Markdone]

When I hear about my friends being hurt, I hurt. When they are involved in an activity that I also do, it makes me hurt more, since I share more with them.

Sometimes it is the "there but for the grace of g*d go I" feeling - like the innocent driver who gets slammed by a drunk - I don't think I won't drive anymore, but I do resolve to try to mitigate by being more vigilant, not driving at 1am etc.

When it turns out that I can learn from the situation, it actually strengthens me in the model of "what does not kill me, makes me stronger".

Bottom line, yes, I reflect. I like to think that the thought of stopping diving because of a horrible situation with a highly-respected friend is not in my mind, but it might be.

I would like to see this thread continue. I would also like to see all posts with personal references deleted consistent with the wishes of the family.

 

[lamont]

About ten years ago, a colleague of mine was diagnosed with cancer. He was my age, and the illness was definitely life-threatening. It made me sit down and reevaluate what I was doing with my life, and I made the decision then that putting things off for later could easily result in never doing them at all, because later doesn't always come for all of us. So I've tried to do as much NOW as I can do in a responsible fashion.

friend of mine that was 34 died of a rare cancer that usually strikes 70+ year olds (cancer of the bile duct). doctors gave him 6-9 months at diagnosis and he lasted 12. that one woke me up. there's no bonus points at the end for the person who lives the safest most boring life...

 

[nauifins73]

I don't understand the problem of "speculating". It opens conversation and that leads to education. I don't mean placing blame type speculation but I do mean open discussion. If I suffered a diving injury or an injury while diving I would want my friends to know and understand what happened.

Becky