Summary of an article I found below. Must be horrible to have to leave a buddy. Still very unclear what happened though. And incomprehensible his buddy could not get him to the surface.
Main 'facts' (although some are contradicting and some are weird):
- He was accompanied by an instructor and taking a course to dive deeper (deep, AOW?)
- They were connected by a buddy line
- He panicked and took the reg out of his mouth
- The instructor tried for ten minutes to get him up, but couldn't
There is speculation that 'his wetsuit flooded'. I assume that was a drysuit since flooding a wetsuit is a bit of a contradiction. Temperatures must have been around 13°C (55°F), I know I would not consider doing that wet (but some would). Could a drysuit failure cause so much trouble? Water is still not heavier then water, is it?
Jonge duiker (16) verdrinkt voor ogen van vriend - Het Nieuwsblad
Diving was his big passion and despite his young age he had already 6 years of experience. Still Gijs Vandenryt (16) drowned on Saturday in the Oosterschelde. His fellow diver tried desperately to get him up, but after almost ten minutes he had to decouple Gijs from the buddy line en leave him on the sea bottom. He had no other choice. Otherwise there would have been two deaths, Gijs mom reacted.
In the Oosterschelde close to Burghsluis,in Zeeland, the search for the body of Gijs Vandenryt (16) from Herk-de-Stad in Limburg was yesterday ongoing for the third day in a row. With sonar, marine divers were searching the entire area where the young Fleming got in trouble while diving about 70m from the harbor. [] Despite all their efforts the search was unsuccessful up to yesterday night.
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My son had entered the water just before 9 AM with his experienced dive partner to take his dive test, his mom says. Gijs has been diving for 6 years and he had a license to dive up to 20 meters. If he passed this test, he would be allowed to go deeper.
In the LDL dive club diving is always done in pairs for safety reasons. Divers are connected with a buddy line, a thick rope connecting two divers. But after almost ten minutes, at about 30m of depth, it went seriously wrong. Gijs buddy saw the young Fleming suddenly get in trouble. He saw Gijs started to panic and took out his mouthpiece. My sons body went to the bottom, Josiane says.
His buddy immediately dived to him and did everything to save my son. For minutes he ventilated him with his mouthpiece. He also tried to pull Gijs up. But my son was too heavy because his wetsuit had gotten full of water. After ten minutes he had no choice but to come to the surface without Gijs. It must have been a terrible choice, but he uncoupled Gijs from the buddy line
The question remains what went wrong. It was suggested the boy got ill, but his mother doubts that. Gijs passes a medical exam every year and nothing ever happened. I really dont understand why he took out his mouthpiece. Maybe something went wrong with his dive suit. This is why it is so important his body is found. An autopsy and an investigation of his gear could clarify things
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Main 'facts' (although some are contradicting and some are weird):
- He was accompanied by an instructor and taking a course to dive deeper (deep, AOW?)
- They were connected by a buddy line
- He panicked and took the reg out of his mouth
- The instructor tried for ten minutes to get him up, but couldn't
There is speculation that 'his wetsuit flooded'. I assume that was a drysuit since flooding a wetsuit is a bit of a contradiction. Temperatures must have been around 13°C (55°F), I know I would not consider doing that wet (but some would). Could a drysuit failure cause so much trouble? Water is still not heavier then water, is it?
Jonge duiker (16) verdrinkt voor ogen van vriend - Het Nieuwsblad
Diving was his big passion and despite his young age he had already 6 years of experience. Still Gijs Vandenryt (16) drowned on Saturday in the Oosterschelde. His fellow diver tried desperately to get him up, but after almost ten minutes he had to decouple Gijs from the buddy line en leave him on the sea bottom. He had no other choice. Otherwise there would have been two deaths, Gijs mom reacted.
In the Oosterschelde close to Burghsluis,in Zeeland, the search for the body of Gijs Vandenryt (16) from Herk-de-Stad in Limburg was yesterday ongoing for the third day in a row. With sonar, marine divers were searching the entire area where the young Fleming got in trouble while diving about 70m from the harbor. [] Despite all their efforts the search was unsuccessful up to yesterday night.
[]
My son had entered the water just before 9 AM with his experienced dive partner to take his dive test, his mom says. Gijs has been diving for 6 years and he had a license to dive up to 20 meters. If he passed this test, he would be allowed to go deeper.
In the LDL dive club diving is always done in pairs for safety reasons. Divers are connected with a buddy line, a thick rope connecting two divers. But after almost ten minutes, at about 30m of depth, it went seriously wrong. Gijs buddy saw the young Fleming suddenly get in trouble. He saw Gijs started to panic and took out his mouthpiece. My sons body went to the bottom, Josiane says.
His buddy immediately dived to him and did everything to save my son. For minutes he ventilated him with his mouthpiece. He also tried to pull Gijs up. But my son was too heavy because his wetsuit had gotten full of water. After ten minutes he had no choice but to come to the surface without Gijs. It must have been a terrible choice, but he uncoupled Gijs from the buddy line
The question remains what went wrong. It was suggested the boy got ill, but his mother doubts that. Gijs passes a medical exam every year and nothing ever happened. I really dont understand why he took out his mouthpiece. Maybe something went wrong with his dive suit. This is why it is so important his body is found. An autopsy and an investigation of his gear could clarify things
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