From the Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada newspaper
Printed from
www.owensoundsuntimes.com web site Tuesday, June 24, 2003 -
© 2003 Owen Sound Sun Times
Man dies exploring shipwreck
Bill Henry
Monday, June 23, 2003 - 08:00
Local news - A relatively inexperienced scuba diver has died exploring the wreck of the Arabia off Tobermory.
A post-mortem Sunday found that David Clarke, 57, of Thames Centre east of London died Friday when his lungs filled with fluid internally.
The unusual condition, known as pulmonary oedema of submersion, has been increasingly attracting attention within the diving community, coroner Dr. George Harpur said Sunday afternoon.
"It's a phenomenon in which you can acutely develop a problem with too much fluid in your lungs, not from drowning but from inside the body, kind of an internal form of drowning," he said.
Clarke, a certified diver for just two years, his son and several others
were diving from the charter boat The Lark in Fathom Five National Marine Park on Friday.
He was a fit and active man who had made fewer than 30 dives since
certification. He was in 110 feet of water at about 6 p.m. when he ran
into trouble breathing, Harpur said.
"He wasn't a terribly experienced diver, but he had been on dives of at
least 90 feet in these waters. This was deeper than he'd been before, but he had been in this kind of water."
Clarke abandoned his breathing equipment as if it were not working, then discarded a second device given to him by his diving buddy. There were no obvious signs of life when he was brought to the surface.
Paramedics were called and arrived at the dive ship on a marine park
vessel.
Clarke was taken ashore, where he was later pronounced dead by the
coroner.
"While he may have been panicked for a short while, (Clarke) died very
quickly," said Harpur, a former military diver and an expert in diving
medicine. "He died of lack of oxygen as a consequence of fluid on the
lungs."
Both discarded breathing units still had an adequate air supply, although an
investigation will look at if they malfunctioned, possibly because of the
extremely cold water, Harpur said.
Harpur said until the investigation is complete, it's too soon to
circulate information within the diving community which might help avoid similar deaths.
He said it's unlikely an inquest will be necessary.
"Most of the factors are already recognized and fairly well known," Harpur said. "There were factors involved that we have already circulated . . . like not making your first dive of the season to 33 metres and making sure that when you do dive to that kind of depth, that you've acquired adequate experience before you get there."
The depth of the water probably played at least a psychological role,
although the condition which caused the man's lungs to fill with fluid is
not related to deep water.
"It's not related to depth at all, it's related just to being submersed in
water. It's related to the fact that it's cold and it's related to the
fact that you're a male over the age of 45," said Harpur, a master diving instructor and medical advisor to several diving associations.
Clarke's was the third diving death in Ontario this year, the first in
Tobermory. It was also the second recreational diving death. The other was on a commercial diving site.
Divers make about 25,000 to 30,000 dives each year at Fathom Five National Park, about half the annual total of several years ago, Harpur said. He did not know what percentage make deep dives, but said the Arabia is "a very popular site."
Two divers died last year near Tobermory. Novice diver Scott Jamieson, 33, of Kitchener died almost exactly a year ago. His body was found on the deck of the wreck of the Forest City.
Michel Guerin, 42, of Pickering died in mid-May while diving off
Lighthouse
Point in Fathom Five Park.
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