I just recieved the following from the Quest e-mail group.
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Jonathan Gol was found dead in the basin at Jackson a week ago. He was
not supposed to be diving at all. Since he was diving with a friend and not
with the WKPP, there was nobody to stop him. We had him on medical "leave"
from our operations.
As you all know, a few weeks ago Jonathan picked up a viral infection in
South America that caused him to be hospitalized for a week with brain
swelling, seizures, and a serious infection. He was being treated for all of
that and was told not to dive by his doctor ( I know, I know - that seems
pretty obvious).
Anyway, Jonathan was "feeling" better , his friend said, so he tried a
little test dive at Jackson - 45 minutes total in-water - and he paid with
his life. His friend and paramedics were unable to revive him. We do not
know the rest of the details but will get the coroner's report when
available and hopefully it will contain information that will allow others
from making a mistake like this. My guess is that there is nothing here to
do with his gas since that cave is so shallow and the exposure so short .
Anyway, while this is not really a "cave diving accident" per se, it will be
added to the total body count that is sooner or later going to get us all
booted out of everywhere. I see where the State of Florida banned shark
feeding yesterday, and that has only killed a few people. Don't bet against
the public loosing access to caves sooner or later.
Once again, as Casey says, we know the rules of diving, we need to show some
personal judgment on and off the field.