Georgia diver dead - Spiegel Grove, Florida

[DandyDon]

Lawrenceville man dies while diving off Florida Keys

A Gwinnett County man died Monday morning while on a diving trip off the Florida Keys, according to police.

James Ringold, 52, was on a trip with his wife when other divers located him around 10:15 a.m. in about 50 feet of water, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in the Keys. Ringold, who was on the commercial dive vessel Rainbow Reef, was unresponsive when he was found with his regulator out of his mouth in the Spiegel Grove area.

Ringold was brought onto the boat, where CPR was performed as he was brought to shore, according to investigators. Paramedics met the vessel and took Ringold to Mariner’s Hospital, where the Lawrenceville man was pronounced dead at 11:41 a.m.

An autopsy is scheduled to determine a cause of death.

The Spiegel Grove is a 510-foot-long former U.S. Navy ship intentionally sunk in 2002 as a dive site in around 80 feet of water, the Florida Keys News reported. It is located about six miles off the Key Largo coast.

 

[Diver0001]

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[Jason]

This accident has hit me particularly hard since I'm planning to be down in Key Largo next month...diving with Rainbow Reef...and am planning to dive the Spiegel Grove. I notice in some of his final posts that he was worried about diving nitrox on this particular dive because the MOD for EAN32 was 110 fsw and the Spiegel Grove was advertised as 130 fsw. I hope that oxygen toxicity didn't play into this event. The article did state that he was at 50 fsw when he was found without his regulator in his mouth.

Dangerous lies?

 

[packrat12]

This accident has hit me particularly hard since I'm planning to be down in Key Largo next month...diving with Rainbow Reef...and am planning to dive the Spiegel Grove. I notice in some of his final posts that he was worried about diving nitrox on this particular dive because the MOD for EAN32 was 110 fsw and the Spiegel Grove was advertised as 130 fsw. I hope that oxygen toxicity didn't play into this event. The article did state that he was at 50 fsw when he was found without his regulator in his mouth...

Most of the recreational diving on the SG is above 100' with a significant part of it around 80-90'. Even if he went to the props, he would have had a PPO2 of ~1.6 and a short duration. I do not care to get into a conversation about safety/PPO2 on this thread but I would be very doubtful that O'tox was an issue here. At his age (and mine), I would first consider health and then diving as causes. The autopsy report will be a good determining document.

Rainbow Reef is a good solid operation. They do have guides available for free. The SG can be a challenging wreck with strong currents. I have not heard about the conditions yesterday on it other then the seas were flat.

To the family, I pass my condolences. It always sad to hear about an accident like this, especially on a wreck I love so much! We, in the diving community will be interested in the determination of the cause of this as it affects us in many ways. jringold seemed very excited about this trip. It is sad that it ended in a tragedy.

 

[Dan]

Wow sad news. RIP James Ringold aka @jringold



Scuba_Couple's May Trip Report to Key Largo

Key Largo - Looking for Seasoned diver thoughts

Thanks for the links. I read the threads and didn't see anything that could raise a red flag other than he was a fairly new diver (< 50 dives), his last dive was back in August 2016, 8 months ago.

 

[tilikum]

I realize it is none of our business for the most part, do you know if autopsy results will be made public or will we be stuck speculating?

 

[Wookie]

Depends on whether the ME makes it so. Our ME in Monroe County is pretty good, but it's always tough to figure out if a guy had a heart attack because he was drowning, or drowning because he had a heart attack.

 

[Steve_C]

his last dive was back in August 2016, 8 months ago.

The Spiegel was probably not his first dive in Key Largo. His posts talked about the Benwood and another dive the day before the Spiegel. So he would have had 2-4 dives prior to the Spiegel.

 

[tilikum]

Maybe it was a heart attack that would have happened whether on land or underwater. It sucks when it is someone you "know", and was so excited about his trip.

 

[Skeptical Dog]

My dad and James' dad, Bob are friends and go to the same church in South Alabama. He relayed that the autopsy showed it was cardiac-related.