What do you think about the one who lived?

What do you think about the one who left their buddy to drown?

  • He was a coward or worse

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • He made the right decision

    Votes: 40 58.8%
  • They went in together, they should have died together

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • They should have tried to get out together and hope for a miracle

    Votes: 4 5.9%
  • He should have given his gas (rig) to the deceased

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • If it was the other guy’s fault, it’s Ok he left him

    Votes: 3 4.4%
  • He was acting rational and responsible

    Votes: 27 39.7%
  • How can he live with himself?

    Votes: 4 5.9%
  • I wish I could help the survivor somehow

    Votes: 11 16.2%
  • I would have done the same in those circumstances

    Votes: 23 33.8%
  • I would never be able to do that in any circumstances

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • I do not want to think about things like these

    Votes: 13 19.1%

  • Total voters
    68

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My first reaction is the same as it has been for every accident where someone has survived, which is enormous sympathy for the survivor, and curiosity as to whether that person would ever dive again. Even in less immediately acute situations, like the recent accident at Ginnie where a diver had to abandon the search for his lost buddy and exit, the guilt and pain has got to be horrible. And even in accidents where there was no fault whatsoever, no conceivable fault (like Denton Byers' death) I wonder if I would dive again, were I the survivor. In fact, I wonder how long it would be before I slept through the night.
 
It would depend a lot on how long of a safety stop the guy made.
 
It would depend a lot on how long of a safety stop the guy made.

Explain?
 
I have a regular buddy with whom I do most of my deeper and penetration dives. We also instruct together. Long ago we sat down over a couple of drinks and agreed what we expected of each other in this kind of situation. The bottom line is I expect my buddy NOT TO DIE as well for some macho ideal. In fact I would sooner he left earlier to try and get help than stick arround. I think it is important when doing potentially higher risk dives to discuss what you expect of your buddy / team in the event of a catastrophy. Threads like this and Trace Malin"s serve a good purpose by making us think about what we would do in such circumstances (Although it would be better to prevent the problemin the first place)
 
What do you think about the one who lived?

I think he's lucky to be alive and he'll have a long road ahead to deal with the trauma.

If I were the surviving diver I'm sure I would blame myself and probably spend the rest of my life going over and over it again in my mind.

I don't think I could leave my buddy but I'm not sure I could use my own willingness to take enormous risks to try saving him as a good enough reason to condemn another for making a different choice.

R..
 
Last edited:

ie. did he consider skipping (some) deco in order to save them both?

Two bent divers is probably better than one dead and one who did all of his deco.

I think that's what he was saying.

R..
 
My answer is not shown in there

I was not there so I will refrain from passing judgement one way or the other
 
Depends on the circumstances. I would have to have details.
 
Reminds me of the tale recounted in Touching the Void . Joe Simpson is hanging in a crevasse by a rope on an isolated Andean mountain side, slowly dragging down his friend and fellow climber, Simon Yates, so that eventually both of them would plunge in. And so Simon cuts the rope. By a series of miracles (you have to see the film if you haven't - a storyline that would be panned if it were fiction) Joe survives.

Joe Simpson to this day has always defended the actions of Simon, cutting the rope.
 
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