Lakeland diver dies after rescue at Pleasure Reef

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descent

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"A 41-year-old woman died over the weekend during a diving excursion in the Keys, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. ... [The diver] jumped into the water and began panicking off Islamorada’s Pleasure Reef. A group pulled her back onto the boat but by then she was unconscious, according to the sheriff’s office. ... " - Miami Herald article - WPLG TV-10 article

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According to the charter boat's web site, Pleasure Reef is a shallow dive (25' - 30').

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article from her hometown paper, The Ledger

41-Year-Old Lakeland Woman Dies During Diving Trip in the Keys

By Ben Brasch
THE LEDGER

Published: Monday, February 9, 2015 at 10:28 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, February 9, 2015 at 12:29 p.m.

LAKELAND | A 41-year-old Lakeland woman died during an offshore dive trip in the Keys over the weekend, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

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PROVIDED TO THE LEDGER

Andrea Moody, of 3721 Featherwood Trail, was getting her final dive certification with her husband, Gordon Moody, 47, and a group just off Islamorada, which is between Key Largo and Marathon, on Saturday when she died.

“I think she just panicked, she wanted back on that boat,” Moody said of his wife.

The couple, who have been married for 13 years, were aboard the boat “Lost Continent” operated by Captain Slate’s Diving Adventures and chartered by a Lakeland company, Deep Six Divers, 1631 E. Edgewood Drive.

The dive was supposed to be at Pleasure Reef that morning.

Just before 10 a.m., Andrea Moody was joining the rest of the group in the water when witnesses say she started panicking almost as soon as she hit the water, the Sheriff’s Office said. By the time the other divers got her back into the boat, she was unconscious.

The crew gave her CPR and took her to the paramedics waiting at the Islamorada Coast Guard station, the Sheriff’s Office said, but she was pronounced dead at Mariner’s Hospital.

The Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on her body this morning, but will not release a cause of manner of death until toxicology reports come back.

Moody was already in the water when his wife dove in. He said she had a perfect entry.

“Next thing I know, I hear her crying,” he said.

Moody said he and his wife loved their new hobby of diving and that he had never seen his wife panic while diving like she did Saturday.

“I think it was the choppy sea,” he said. “I think it just overwhelmed her.”

Moody said the pair excelled at diving: she got a 97 on her final exam and he got a 99.

They had gone on a lake dive just the week before and stayed 45 feet below the surface for 30 minutes without a problem.

He said they had plans to go on a cruise in April with her side of the family that would stop at the Cayman Islands so they could dive into the infamous scuba haven that is the Grand Cayman.

Moody said his wife was a professional counselor at Living Hope Counseling Center, which is connected to First Baptist Church at the Mall. She also worked part-time as a social worker at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, counseling those with mental health issues.

“She just devoted her whole life to serving other people,” he said.
 
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That is very sad. I had a lot of trouble with diving when I first started. I would get anxiety in the pool but forced myself to push through it. My husband was very worried that I would panic and have the same fate. Fortunately, I got very good at calming myself down and not panicking. This is very sad.
 
Wow. Yes. Condolences to her husband.

Are you guys (in the Keys) familiar with the Deep Six op from Lakeland - Winter Haven? It sounds like they did everything they could, quickly, and in the right order.
 
I saw Slate tonight at a function but thought better of asking in a crowded room.
 
Wow, from what information was there, it did not even seem like she descended.
 
"...was getting her final dive certification with her husband..."

Based on that quote from the article, it sounds like this might have been an OW training dive.

Wow. Yes. Condolences to her husband.

Are you guys (in the Keys) familiar with the Deep Six op from Lakeland - Winter Haven? It sounds like they did everything they could, quickly, and in the right order.

Deep Six in Lakeland is a fairly well known and respected dive shop. I don't have a lot of first hand experience with them, but I know quite a few people that have been trained through them and I have always heard good things. Having said that, it's hard to tell exactly how each party in this incident was involved. Deep Six organized the trip, but that doesn't mean they had professional dive staff present on this dive. The FL Keys are a good ways away from central FL and it's possible that this part of the trip was being run by the dive boat in the keys (referral cert), or that the divers were on their own (already certified), or that a dive professional from the shop was with them, or an independent dive master/instructor was contracted separately from the shop and dive boat.

As usual, the article really leaves more questions than answers.
 
Condolences to her husband, family, and friends.
 
Very sad to read about this . Once again I feel that new divers/diving students should be supported/led all the way through the training program...more so if conditions are a bit choppy or windy. For some people the training part is seriously nerve racking.
I have had to hold a student's hand several times during the first dives....until he got his nerves/skills up to scratch and eventually he turned out to be a great diver / bud as well.
Condolences to the divers' family.
 
Wow, from what information was there, it did not even seem like she descended.

Could it have been a giant stride injury? I bonked a tank valve pretty hard once. I was seeing stars.
 

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