We might stop diving

[bergersau]

Living involves more than just not dying. Some of what makes life worth living includes a degree of risk. Don't stop living just to stay alive. Find a way to do what you love safely.

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[CamG]

"It's not the years in your life that matter. It's the life in your years. "

Bill, JamesK puts it right out there and I love how honest this statement is.
It is your choice and I respect it whatever you decide.
Personally for me and these are only my thoughts and opinions but simply we all are going to die that is inevitable.
When we loose friends, dive buddies, loved ones it smacks us in the face and we have to grieve / come to terms / make our peace with their passing.
Not always does everyone make it through this process without making life changes it is near impossible.

Some quit diving when buddies die diving others do not it really is up to the individual.
My opinion is when it is time to breath our last it matters not above or below the water it is inevitable but I will not give up without using every skill I have been taught, draw from experiences, use every stitch of training and remember cool heads prevail and if after that there is still no solution resolve to keep trying till no more air is left.
This is what I tell myself and I have had the opportunity to be on two dives that ended well but took me to the edge of the cliff where it could have went either way.
What it engrained in me was a drive to master skills, and train / drill / take no dive for granted, when you get lazy or complacent YOU ARE DEAD!

Technical, Recreational, working, pleasure it just doesn't matter for me I treat them all the same.

If Bill you are not able to feel confident in your training and or response to emergencies or cannot operate under safe dive principals you need to re-think your diving future.
I have dove with other divers who have had accidents above and below the water it takes some time to work through the comfort struggles but it is possible.
Some walk away and no judgement from me at all.
I respect everyones choice and will defend their right to do so.

Good luck, take your time, do not draw any lines but rather allow yourself time to adjust and come to terms with this loss.
Hope to get to dive with you one day.

CamG

 

[shoredivr]

This is worth repeating. Very clear, very pertinent. Thanks Lamont.

This is false. The problem here is that we don't want to look at a lot of the mistakes that she made because we thinks it reflects badly on our memory of her.

She was experimenting with new gear to her (drysuit) on a dive where she also took a camera (and decided to go solo) and did not make any attempt to reduce the complexity of the dive to reduce task loading.
She overweighted herself which is a mistake that was made because of her new gear config.
She was diving with too small of a wing for her gear configuration and it could not float her.
She ran her gas down too low.
She knew she was low on gas and chose to re-descend rather than simply stay on the surface.
She went solo, when she was low on gas.

Those were all actions/decisions/mistakes that happened *prior* to the disabling event and the "something else (panic, perhaps)" occurred. If you only focus on what we don't know about her reaction immediately after she ran OOA then I agree it looks like a mystery and if you can't get past analyzing the accident in those terms then I think you really should hang it up. If you can't take some really obvious lessons home about how to never wind up in that situation, then, yes, this isn't a sport for you.

It really isn't that dangerous, but you're going to have to decide which pill to take. Through one door this accident is a big scary mystery and you should walk away from scuba. Through the other door scuba is pretty safe as long as you don't get complacent and continuously analyze the risks that you're running and make adjustments -- but you might have to be critical of mistakes that were clearly made here.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Bill, I've seen your posts since you joined SB, and it's evident that you and your wife have been methodically trying to improve your diving and have had some good learning experiences. There will always be some randomness to accidents, but I think your odds of surviving diving are higher than average.

Complacency is a big problem. "It still bothers me that even experienced divers die diving." I suspect that as some divers become super-experienced they also become more complacent. You and I will not become complacent.

 

[diverrex]

Nothing wrong with not diving. Lots of people don't dive and lead full happy lives. Diving is not for everyone. That said I don't think it is overly dangerous. In the scheme of things I don't think that there are that many scuba deaths. Stay fit, don't go low on air. Scuba motivates me to stay fit. I think the new experiences it gives me and the people I interact with helps me stay young.

 

[flots am]

She was experimenting with new gear to her (drysuit) on a dive where she also took a camera (and decided to go solo) and did not make any attempt to reduce the complexity of the dive to reduce task loading.
She overweighted herself which is a mistake that was made because of her new gear config.
She was diving with too small of a wing for her gear configuration and it could not float her.
She ran her gas down too low.
She knew she was low on gas and chose to re-descend rather than simply stay on the surface.
She went solo, when she was low on gas.

Assuming there was no underlying medical problem, the last one was the real killer.

All the others can be handled.

Having enough gas, gives enough time to remove any equipment required in order to obtain positive buoyancy.
Having a good buddy would have provided assistance.

When you don't have either, the "safe zone" gets smaller really quickly.

With enough time or assistance, the rest of the stuff becomes things to complain about while having lunch.

flots.

 

[drbill]

Quero's death was a shock for many of us. However, in no way does it affect my future diving plans. Early reports suggested that it might be a medical issue (DVT), although I haven't followed up to see if it is believed to have been equipment-related.

I have had friends and acquaintances die while diving. I have had them die while driving the Lost Angeles freeways. I have had them die from other accidents, disease, etc. None of those deaths have impacted my activities. Why? Because I have known FAR more people who have NOT died from such things.

For 22 years I refused to fly in a commercial jet because I had two potentially fatal incidents in one day. I lost out on many wonderful experiences due to that fear. It wasn't until my former GF said she wouldn't take the train from LA to Boston and back in 1994 that I got on an airplane again. Now I fly whenever there is a good dive site (or family) at my destination. I have accepted the risk (minimal that it is) in order to enjoy my life more. Personally, I can't imagine NOT diving... it is such an integral part of the joy I get from living. Assessing what you believe are the risks in diving and determining whether you want to continue is, of course, your choice.

 

[tarponchik]

A bit off-topic, but the original post mentioned the death of a Russian couple this February. I remember I was saddened by the news back then, but now I checked and found no reports of any investigations of the subject, what happened. Here is the link to the obituary. Does anybody know anything?

 

[TMHeimer]

drBill, Well said. "Statistics" say you have far greater a chance dying while driving as opposed to flying. The arguement that this is flawed (how many people are driving at a given moment and how many flying) aside, you know that in a car you have a decent chance to do something to avoid it (unless someone skips over the median and into you), while if the plane goes down that's most likely the end. While I do think about that last part every time I step on a plane, I don't dwell on it. I'm thinking more about how the airline will screw up my connection this time.

Same thing with sharks. I know all the stats about so few divers being attacked--UNLESS the shark does or thinks this or that. But though I always keep a wide eye on where I'm headed underwater, I'm not going to quit diving for fear of sharks.

 

[MalibuJerry]

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau

Exactly! thanks for digging up the quote