A 50-year-old scuba diver collapsed and died about 5:44 p.m. Saturday after he left the water at Potawatomi Park just south of Sturgeon Bay.
His death appears to be medically related," said Door County Sheriff Terry Vogel. "He was not in the water when he died."
Al Klimek, who acts as the coroner in Door, Brown and Oconto counties, identified the man as William Scott Russell of Sobieski in Oconto County. After an autopsy Monday, Klimek said the cause of death appears to have been medical, but he has not yet issued an official ruling.
Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden Chris Kratcha was one of the responders who took over helping with chest compressions in efforts to revive Russell.
The man, wearing a wetsuit, was not responding to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Kratcha said. He was carried to the ambulance and taken to Door County Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Kratcha said he was told two people were diving, and one of them was coming out of the water in obvious distress. A nearby camper pulled him to the shore.
A high school friend diving with Russell, Daniel James Mittnacht, 48, said he left his house in Appleton to pick up Russell to go scuba diving, according to a Door County Sheriff report. Mittnacht said both were certified in scuba diving three years earlier and checked their gear before entering the water about 4:30 p.m. with full tanks of air, snorkels, fins and wet suits. They placed a dive flag in the water and went diving for 30-45 minutes and came up to the water's surface two to three times to check their bearings, he said.
On their final dive, he noticed the air tanks were low but no alarms were sounding. They decided to surface, talking briefly.
"Scott was having no problems," Mittnacht said, but the pair agreed to go to shore.
Both men were excellent swimmers, he said, so they began swimming to shore on top of the water. Mittnacht was no more than 20 yards from shore when he heard a guy yelling and looked up and noticed someone pulling his friend to shore. When he got to shore, he said, Russell was not breathing. He also tried to revive his friend.
A witness, Jill M. Siebert, said she was walking in the park and heard someone yell for help and saw the other diver about 30 feet away. Siebert also said she could not find a pulse on Russell.
Park superintendent Don McKinnon reported that a camper saw Russell floundering, brought him to shore and called 911. The incident occurred in a channel off Sawyer Harbor, where the water is very clear.
McKinnon, who also scuba dives, said, "Scuba diving is pretty safe. But it's important to dive with a buddy."
