Tragic loss to the NoCal dive community

[Teamcasa]

From: http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_13175637?nclick_check=1

A 22-year-old San Jose man drowned while scuba diving off Monastery Beach early Thursday morning with two other divers.
Correy Randall Fedor, of San Jose, was in more than 200 feet of water about 500 yards off the beach when his diving partners lost contact with him as they were surfacing, state Park Ranger Chuck Bancroft said.

The divers had gone out about 7:30 a.m., Bancroft said, and had made a dive to 250 feet.

They were swimming toward the surface, pausing at stages to decompress to avoid air embolisms, and at a stop at 190 feet down, lost contact with Fedor, he said.

All three were highly experienced divers. One of them, Frank Barry, is the proprietor of Any Water Sports diving shop and school in San Jose, where Fedor worked, and the other was a co-worker.

Barry and the other diver, whose name has not been released, swam to shore after surfacing. Barry shed his dive gear and swam back out to find Fedor while the other diver called 911, Bancroft said.

Barry found Fedor floating face-down in the water, turned him over, inflated his life vest and attempted to revive him, Bancroft said.

Rescuers from the Sheriff's Office, state parks lifeguards and firefighters arrived on the beach shortly after 10 a.m.

An inflatable boat kept at Point Lobos by the Carmel Highlands Fire District responded, as did state lifeguard Kevin Brady, who went into the water on a board to bring Fedor ashore.

"He was a good 500 yards out," Brady said, where the water "is super-deep." ...


Condolences shared here in the NoCal Forum
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/norcal/300092-sad-news-today.html

 

[Jim Ernst]

Thanks For posting this Dave!!

It sounds as if we will never know exactly what happened!!

Correy will be Missed by us all , He was an awesome person!

 

[mikemill]

Diver surfaced too fast from depths, autopsy shows - MontereyHerald.com :
A San Jose man who died Thursday while scuba diving off Monastery Beach spent the summer of 2007 working as an instructor for the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Underwater Explorers program for children.
Aquarium spokeswoman Karen Jeffries said employees who knew 22-year-old Correy Randall Fedor are trying to cope with the death of the experienced diver.

"I knew Correy to be nothing but positive when he worked in the Great Tide Pool taking kids diving for their first time," Gil Falcone, the aquarium's senior dive safety officer and manager of diving operations, said in a prepared statement. "His enthusiasm for the sport and appreciation for marine life lead him to the aquarium and beyond."

Fedor, who worked at Any Water Sports, a dive shop and diving school in San Jose, went diving with his boss Frank Barry and another co-worker about 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

The three divers were returning to the surface from a depth of 250 feet around 10 a.m., pausing at stages to decompress to avoid air embolisms, according to state park rangers. At 190 feet down Fedor lost contact with his dive partners.

After surfacing and swimming to shore Barry went back in the water to search for Fedor while the third diver, who was not identified, called 911.

Chuck Bancroft, a state park ranger, said Barry found Fedor floating face down in the water, turned him over and tried to revive him.

Fedor was pronounced dead a short time after he was brought ashore.

Coroner's detective Diana Schumacher said an autopsy done Friday showed that Fedor died as a result of surfacing too quickly but the cause is unclear.
"We don't know what that cataclysmic event was," Schumacher said.

Fedor's dive equipment will be tested to try to determine if it played a role. Schumacher said, by all accounts, Fedor was an experienced diver.

"This was his passion," she said.

Falcone said that after Fedor left his job at the aquarium he continued to work as a dive leader in Monterey, "helping divers to safely experience the kelp forests off our coast."

"Correy's positive attitude, hard work and ever-present smile was a mark of what kind of person he was," Falcone said. "He will be thought of fondly and missed in the future."

Fedor is the second San Jose resident to die this month while scuba diving in Monterey Bay.

Alec Piplani, 49, who was also an experienced diver, died Aug. 2 at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. He had some type of trouble and stopped breathing after surfacing in the water off McAbee Beach on Cannery Row. Investigators are still trying to determine what led to his death.

Daniel Lopez can be reached at 646-4494 or dlopez@montereyherald.com.

 

[norcaldivegod]

It is a very sad incident. It could also be a very good learning experience for people. What what the planned profile? Planned depth was 225 why did they go to 250? What was the bottom mix and deco mixes? I wish the best to the family and friends of Correy and hope the lesson here is learned and history is not repeated. DIVE SMART = DIVE SAFE

 

[norcaldivegod]

This is a very sad incident and feel it could and should be a learning experience for many. What was the dive profile? Why did they go 25 feet past panned depth? What mixes were used? Why no surface support for a 225 foot dive? I wish Correy's family and friends the best and hope that we can all learn something so history is not repeated. I feel this as most incidents could have been avoided. Best wishes to all. Remember DIVING SMART = DIVING SAFE

 

[josmo9]

Hi, this is Correy's Dad, from what we viewed on Correys dive computer after reaching approximately 245 feet he came up to the level designated, Frank & Scott lost touch with Correy around 190 feet, once separated, Correy went back down to approximately 220 feet for unkown reasons, then returned to 190 feet, from there it looks like he may of had some type of seizure, all speculation as no one was there. According to the coroner, he then idled there for a short time then reached the surface in less than 1 minute, the coroner believes he died during the idling period then his lifeless body shot to the surface. I've spoke with MANY diving experts & they all think all 3 divers may have suffered from partial Nitrous Narcosis, they don't remember when they last saw Correy. Diving with straight air & the water depth are 2 of the main causes for this. The buddy system must be implemented AT ALL TIMES. No blame is cast here, but a CAUTION to ALL divers diving about having & staying with your partner. Notice changes in their face, body motions, use CLEAR signals when something is wrong!!

 

[Sue J]

josmo9-

Very sorry for your loss.

 

[Ayisha]

I've very sorry, Josmo9, about the loss of your son. May he rest in peace.

The possible seizure that you mentioned at about 190 feet could have been from oxygen toxicity from diving deep with air. The partial pressure of oxygen in air becomes increasingly toxic with depth. At 187 feet, air has a PPO2 of 1.4. At 218 feet, air has a PPO2 of 1.6, which becomes more risky for most people. In a normal recreational dive, a PPO2 of 1.6 would be for contingency planning only, while 1.4 or less would be normal planning. At 245 feet, the PPO2 of air would be about 1.8, which is high. Any of the above PPO2's can cause oxygen toxicity in any person at any time. It is unpredictable from day to day or person to person if you will oxtox at a particular PPO2, but the risk goes up with the increase in the partial pressure of oxygen.

Beyond 130 feet, the nitrogen in air becomes increasingly toxic as well, causing varying levels of nitrogen narcosis, which can impede clear-headedness and slow motor function, similar to being intoxicated.

 

[I Dive]

You have my condolences Josmo9

 

[Gombessa]

Hi, this is Correy's Dad

Josmo9,

I'm so sorry for your loss. I chatted with Correy every time I stopped by AWS and I was shocked when I heard the news. I still half-expect to see him at the service counter whenever I walk in the door.

This is a very sad incident and feel it could and should be a learning experience for many.

Out of respect for Correy's memory, I hope it's not too unreasonable to ask that we carry this conversation forward without deputizing anonymous sock puppets to talk for us?