Teen fatality - Skaneateles Lake, New York

[DandyDon]

Police: 16-year-old from Bridgeport dies following scuba accident at Skaneateles Lake

The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office said a 16-year-old who was scuba diving in the south end of Skaneateles Lake died on Sunday.
Emergency crews responded to a call on North Glen Haven Road in Niles at 11 a.m. regarding a scuba diving accident.
Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that the victim, 16-year-old Brandon Finch, of Bridgeport, was scuba diving with two adult divers: 33-year-old Carl Hoyt, of Bridgeport, and 23-year-old Theodore Garlock, of Syracuse.
The two divers said Finch was rapidly swimming toward the surface from about 60 feet below. Police said Finch was unresponsive before reaching the surface, and was recovered by the two divers and brought to shore.
Both Garlock and Hoyt performed CPR while calling emergency responders, who transported the 16-year-old to Cortland Memorial Hospital. He was later pronounced dead.
Police said Finch was certified in diving at that depth just months ago and both adult divers are certified and have years of experience.
The cause of death has not been determined at this time. Police said it is unknown what caused Finch to ascend so quickly. The Broome County Medical Examiner's Office is performing the autopsy.
The investigation is ongoing.

 

[tracydr]

Very sad.

 

[Beiji]

Skaneateles is one of my local diving spots. I don't know anything more about the accident than what's been reported except that a local shop owner has been asked to examine the diver's gear.

It's certainly a tragedy.

 

[rhwestfall]

Hate it (even more) when its "close to home"..... not a good day in the WNY dive community.....

What shopis doing the gear investigation?

 

[mala]

sad news,

the years of experience thing means what?

 

[flots am]

the years of experience thing means what?

Nothing really. All it means is that they were certified more than a few years ago.

flots.

 

[jbomb001]

A sad day indeed... I'll be diving Skaneateles Saturday.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[RochesterUE]

Nothing really. All it means is that they were certified more than a few years ago.

flots.

In this particular case, it means that both the other divers truly were experienced.

Unless you've been in their position, lets leave this space to share our condolences to Brandon's family and the local diving community. This should not be the place to second guess their experience level or decisions on a tragic dive. Thank you.

Brandon, rest in peace.

 

[rhwestfall]

No disrespect, and it is a tragic event, but this is the AI forum. Discussions are intended to take place to understand the event, hopefully learning so as not to repeat.....

 

[gypsyjim]

Condolences to the family. No one deserves to lose their child.