Lake Jocassee fatality - South Carolina

[DandyDon]

https://www.thestate.com/news/state/south-carolina/article278226378.html

A 50-year-old man from Florida died after an “incident” on a popular South Carolina lake, officials said. The man had been diving at a lake when he “became unresponsive.” He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead Saturday, Aug. 12, according to the Pickens County Coroner’s Office. Officials said it happened on Lake Jocassee, a body of water that’s popular for fishing and viewing waterfalls. It happened at The Wall, a rock feature along the lakeshore about 40 miles northwest of Greenville. The man was identified in a news release as Anthony Reno, who lived in the Jacksonville-area community of Fleming Island. Officials didn’t share Reno’s cause of death in their news release but said an autopsy will be scheduled. In addition to the coroner’s office, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources reportedly are investigating the incident.

 

[Blackwater Hunter]

It's pretty notable that they didn't use the term "drowned" in this article. Kudos to the author for not being speculative (A lot of other articles weren't speculative either). The part that's even more odd about this tragedy is the location. If it happened at the Wall, then he died in shallow water. The articles didn't mention if he even died underwater anyway. The way it says "became unresponsive" is telling me, the reader, that someone witnessed him go unconscious. I know this was back in August, but there haven't been any updates to this story to my knowledge. I know it's up to the family to release the cause of death, but I feel that the cause should be revealed to the Scuba community. Tragedies like this offer a lesson and a reminder to everyone of the risks of the sport. There is always time for a safety brief.

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