Jay_SMART_Diver
Contributor
This is the Newspaper article about the Recovery Dive Operation I went on last week in Chiapas, Mexico at Agua Azul.
From San Marcos Daily Record Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com
Risky Aqua Azul dive a 'defining moment'
By ANITA MILLER - News Editor
Posted: Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 - 03:49:10 pm CDT
It's likely no one will ever know what happened to Akin Jonathan Adeyemo.
The 32-year-old British tourist disappeared from atop a waterfall in the Mexican state of Chiapas June 12 and, his family believed, fell into a 75-foot deep pool at the Aqua Azul waterfall's base.
That theory was laid to rest when a search by the San Marcos Area Recovery Team of the pool the locals call a "death hole" turned up no sign of his body.
"We are 100 percent sure that he is not there," said Dan Misiaszek, SMART team captain whose three carefully timed dives into the treacherous pool were, he says, the most challenging of his career.
Five SMART team members and the team's cadaver-sniffing dog were requested to do the search by Adeyemo's family, who learned of the team on the Internet. It's now assumed Adeyemo was swept downstream and on Friday his family returned to London.
Misiaszek said the experience was a "defining moment" for him because, for the first time ever, he realized he would not survive the dive without the surface support of fellow team members including his wife Kathy (a SMART lieutenant), K-9 handler/diver Kevin Roles and dog BOK and divers Jason Hedrick and Don White.
"I don't want to sound like a drama queen, but this operation at Aqua Azul was by far the most physically and mentally challenging dive I have done in my life. I had to rely 100 percent on the topside team to get me out of this deep cavern. The current was so strong at the surface that I had to literally hold my mask on my face and hold the regulator in my mouth. That didn't leave me any hands free to pull myself up on the rope."
Misiaszek made an initial dive with just one rope as a lifeline. However, he only descended 10 or 12 feet before he rethought that situation and signaled to be pulled back out. "My mask was leaking from the heavy current and my hands were bleeding from scraping the rock walls."
He said he looked his wife in the eye and told her "If you guys don't pull me out of here, I'm not coming out." The couple had "some heart to heart moments" before he descended again, this time secured by two ropes.
After two searches of the bottom of the pool and one of caverns that open up between the bottom and the surface, Misiaszek faced another challenge as he was being pulled up.
One of the ropes had become hooked to a rock and Misiaszek felt himself being pulled towards the formation "like a bug on a windshield."
"I had about a minute to pull out my shears and cut the rope away," he said. "Kathy said there were a few seconds of panic when the surface team pulled up an empty rope, but that quickly changed when they saw me break the surface with the shears still in my hand."
He said a Mexican journalist who interviewed the team at the site told them that 194 people had drowned in and around Aqua Azul in the past three years and that 20 of them had died at the waterfall.
He said the Mexican government made the team sign a waver acknowledging the danger of the operation.
Misiaszek is no stranger to perilous situations. He has recovered human remains from the bottom of Jacob's Well in 2000 and the body of a Texas State University-San Marcos student from under Joe's Crab Shack earlier this year. He also rescued a teenager from Cumming's Dam several years ago.
"Honestly, this dive kicked my ***," he said. "I had serious doubts about being here today."
The team's expenses, around $6,000, were paid by Adeyemo's family.
Photo Credit: Dan Misiaszek makes his way toward the shore as his wife Kathy, a SMART lieutenant, and other SMART team members look on. Divers searched for a missing 32-year-old British tourist. (Photo by Jason Hedrick, SMART team member)
From San Marcos Daily Record Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com
Risky Aqua Azul dive a 'defining moment'
By ANITA MILLER - News Editor
Posted: Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 - 03:49:10 pm CDT
It's likely no one will ever know what happened to Akin Jonathan Adeyemo.
The 32-year-old British tourist disappeared from atop a waterfall in the Mexican state of Chiapas June 12 and, his family believed, fell into a 75-foot deep pool at the Aqua Azul waterfall's base.
That theory was laid to rest when a search by the San Marcos Area Recovery Team of the pool the locals call a "death hole" turned up no sign of his body.
"We are 100 percent sure that he is not there," said Dan Misiaszek, SMART team captain whose three carefully timed dives into the treacherous pool were, he says, the most challenging of his career.
Five SMART team members and the team's cadaver-sniffing dog were requested to do the search by Adeyemo's family, who learned of the team on the Internet. It's now assumed Adeyemo was swept downstream and on Friday his family returned to London.
Misiaszek said the experience was a "defining moment" for him because, for the first time ever, he realized he would not survive the dive without the surface support of fellow team members including his wife Kathy (a SMART lieutenant), K-9 handler/diver Kevin Roles and dog BOK and divers Jason Hedrick and Don White.
"I don't want to sound like a drama queen, but this operation at Aqua Azul was by far the most physically and mentally challenging dive I have done in my life. I had to rely 100 percent on the topside team to get me out of this deep cavern. The current was so strong at the surface that I had to literally hold my mask on my face and hold the regulator in my mouth. That didn't leave me any hands free to pull myself up on the rope."
Misiaszek made an initial dive with just one rope as a lifeline. However, he only descended 10 or 12 feet before he rethought that situation and signaled to be pulled back out. "My mask was leaking from the heavy current and my hands were bleeding from scraping the rock walls."
He said he looked his wife in the eye and told her "If you guys don't pull me out of here, I'm not coming out." The couple had "some heart to heart moments" before he descended again, this time secured by two ropes.
After two searches of the bottom of the pool and one of caverns that open up between the bottom and the surface, Misiaszek faced another challenge as he was being pulled up.
One of the ropes had become hooked to a rock and Misiaszek felt himself being pulled towards the formation "like a bug on a windshield."
"I had about a minute to pull out my shears and cut the rope away," he said. "Kathy said there were a few seconds of panic when the surface team pulled up an empty rope, but that quickly changed when they saw me break the surface with the shears still in my hand."
He said a Mexican journalist who interviewed the team at the site told them that 194 people had drowned in and around Aqua Azul in the past three years and that 20 of them had died at the waterfall.
He said the Mexican government made the team sign a waver acknowledging the danger of the operation.
Misiaszek is no stranger to perilous situations. He has recovered human remains from the bottom of Jacob's Well in 2000 and the body of a Texas State University-San Marcos student from under Joe's Crab Shack earlier this year. He also rescued a teenager from Cumming's Dam several years ago.
"Honestly, this dive kicked my ***," he said. "I had serious doubts about being here today."
The team's expenses, around $6,000, were paid by Adeyemo's family.
Photo Credit: Dan Misiaszek makes his way toward the shore as his wife Kathy, a SMART lieutenant, and other SMART team members look on. Divers searched for a missing 32-year-old British tourist. (Photo by Jason Hedrick, SMART team member)
