Bahamas: Missing Female Diver

[DandyDon]

I once had a buddy tell me that if he was told he had a terminal illness he would take a one way dive That may happen more than we think! I don't question his right to that decision if he were to make it but I do question his right to do it in a way that traumatizes other people. Could that be the case here

I've had that question in my mind, then wondered about how unfair it would be to others if I pulled such a stunt.

[ScubaSteve]

I personally think it would be terribly unfair. Look at what Ben McDaniel's (Vortex death) parents are doing many months after his disappearance. They are still offering rewards for anybody that recovers his body......does this sound like someone who has been able to grieve, accept and move on? Not to me.

[Randy43068]

I've had that question in my mind, then wondered about how unfair it would be to others if I pulled such a stunt.

Obviously someone in such physical or mental pain aren't too concerned on what's "fair."

Remember, this isn't about YOU, it's about the person who may choose to do something like this.

[Thalassamania]

Brain dead may be more accurate.
But we'll just never agree on that one. There are those of us who fall on the personal responsibility side, and those who feel everyone's misfortune is always somebody else's fault.
That doesn't excuse the behavior of those who intentionally mislead folks - but it doesn't excuse those who go through life broadcasting "lie to me" either.

Rick

Rick, we pretty much agree in the end ... where we differ is at the start.

I have been debating commenting on this but what the heck.

I would be pretty ticked off if some DM or dive operator told me they wouldn't let me dive because I am an overweight, rather unfit 60 year old. I personally think there are a lot of trim, fit party hardy, high risk taking macho younger divers who are a greater risk to themselves and their fellow divers than I will ever be.

I personally think I have the right to make an informed choice for myself. I am more than competent to decide what dive I should or should not take. I don't expect someone else to take away my right to make my own decisions and suffer or enjoy the consequences of doing so. My family know that I do not think it is appropriate to try to lay blame on others for my choices freely made. That isn't to say that I wouldn't want someone to be held responsible for negligence .. ie contaminated air. Turning a blind eye to negligence is tantamount to sentancing another diver to death.

I once had a buddy tell me that if he was told he had a terminal illness he would take a one way dive That may happen more than we think! I don't question his right to that decision if he were to make it but I do question his right to do it in a way that traumatizes other people. Could that be the case here

It is a question of "informed choice." Most divers never get "informed."

[Rick Murchison]

... Most divers never get "informed."

And just exactly whose responsibility is it to get the information??????? Just because a diver is too lazy or incompetent or even afraid of the answer doesn't relieve him of his responsibility to evaluate the dive and make himself informed. More than once in my diving life I've raised the bull**** flag to someone else's "it's ok."
On the other hand, if someone in a leadership position misrepresents the risk - by commission *or* omission - intentionally that's another matter entirely.
Rick

[Thalassamania]

I assume that it is intentional, but perhaps that's giving most of the agencies and instructors too much credit ... I guess it could be box of rocks stupidity.

[Rick Murchison]

I assume that it is intentional, but perhaps that's giving most of the agencies and instructors too much credit ... I guess it could be box of rocks stupidity.

Certainly there are cases of both. But most of the folks I know who're in the business of teaching go to great pains to impress on divers that they must be realistic about their limits, realistic about conditions, and never let anyone talk them into a dive where they judge the conditions exceed their limits.
On second thought, *all* of the folks I know who teach try to teach their studs to be reasonable in the pre-dive risk analysis arena.
I have seen the other, rarely, here & there, however, and I tend to go with the box of rocks. On the other hand, I do wonder how box-of-rocks stupidity got there without some intent by someone upstream...
see that in government a lot, too.

Rick

[mdb]

Well we now have the "experts" talking and very little left to learn except what we already know.

This has been a good discussion.

May the two Carson Nevada lads RIP.