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Ken Sallot wrote:
>
> Can anyone confirm if this article really appeared and this is a real
> incident?
>
> Ken
> ------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
> Here's a story that appeared in the Virginia Pilot - a local and
> respected newspaper. The story refers to the recent sad and tragic
> death of a recreational diver, for no apparent reason.
>
> Take care down there.
>
> JL
>
> >Beach diver's life ends in the depths, with his dreams of going deeper
> >
> >BY PAUL CLANCY, The Virginian-Pilot
> >Copyright 1998, Landmark Communications Inc.
> >
> >OFF THE VIRGINIA COAST -- Something was terribly wrong.
> >Even at 170 feet near the ocean's floor, there was little that would
> >faze Tai Wilkerson, a meticulously careful and widely experienced diver.
> >
> >Yet he was signaling for help.
> >
> >Mike Fantone, his dive buddy, swam to him. Wilkerson's eyes were wide.
> >His life-giving regulator dangling from his lips.
> >
> >He stopped breathing and went limp.
> >
> >At that moment, shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday -- in a cold and lonely
> >place at the bottom of the ocean -- all chances that Wilkerson would
> >survive may have vanished.
> >
> >But his friends on the surface loved him too much to let go. For more
> >than two hours, they would continue to pump oxygen into lifeless lungs
> >and beat on an unbeating heart.
> >
> >And they would continue to hope, even as the winking lights of the Coast
> >Guard rescue helicopter faded at dusk over the rolling Atlantic.
> >
> >The Lynnhaven Dive Center's deepwater team is among the elite of the
> >profession. And Wilkerson, who was certified in virtually every aspect
> >of diving that scuba pros can aspire to, was among the very best.
> >
> >The hazy, red sun was just rising when the team of nine divers put out
> >to sea from the inlet at Ocean City, Md., Wednesday morning. They were
> >working for Quicksilver, the Virginia Beach treasure-hunting company
> >that has been searching for 10 years for the Spanish ship Juno, which
> >may have sunk to the bottom with a fortune in treasure in 1802.
> >
> >It was the third and last day this week of attempts to salvage something
> >from a site 40 miles off the Virginian coast of Assateague National
> >Seashore that would prove this is the Juno. Something like a cannon that
> >divers thought they spotted earlier in the week.
> >
> >One hundred and eighty feet is too dangerous for most recreational
> >divers -- incredible pressures at those depths can rob people of their
> >judgment. And even more dangerous is the trip back.
> >
> >But pros such as the Lynnhaven team have dropped to wrecks much deeper
> >than that. Several members, including Wilkerson, had explored the wreck
> >of the Monitor, the Union ironclad 240 feet down off Hatteras last year.
> >
> >Wilkerson's deepest dive was about 415 feet, and he was looking forward
> >to pushing the envelope even farther, to 500 feet.
> >
> >The resident of the Kings Grant neighborhood in Virginia Beach, in his
> >early 40s, was a pilot for Airborne Express and was believed to be in
> >superb shape.
> >
> >It took just over two hours for ``Miss Lindsey,'' the 60-foot custom
> >dive boat, to reach the site.
> >
> >``Thank you, Lord, for the beautiful day,'' said Mike Hillier, the
> >leader of the team and veteran of thousands of dives. ``What we gotta do
> >is find something. But the most important thing is: Come back.''
> >
> >For the first several hours, they didn't find more than a few pieces of
> >encrusted metal.
> >
> >Wilkerson was one of three divers to make the first jump, at about 9:45.
> >Dressed in bulky dry suits, gloves, hoods and loaded with weight belts
> >and gear, they looked like astronauts.
> >
> >For their dive, their plan was to spend about 20 minutes at the wreck
> >site.
> >
> >At these depths, extreme caution must be used. ``Nitrogen narcosis,''
> >the effect of condensed nitrogen on the brain, can cause divers to lose
> >their judgment. The divers were using a mixture of helium, oxygen and
> >nitrogen rather than just compressed air, because the mix delays the
> >narcosis effect.
> >
> >For every minute spent at great depths, divers must spend several more
> >minutes decompressing on the way up. If a diver ascends too rapidly,
> >gasses in the bloodstream -- in a dissolved state under pressure --
> >become bubbles, clogging blood vessels and blocking circulation to vital
> >organs.
> >
> >Decompression illness, known as the ``bends,'' can cause permanent
> >damage and even death.
> >
> >Using a computer program called ``Abyss,'' one diver calculated that for
> >a stay of 15 minutes, he would have to spend 42 minutes coming to the
> >surface: four minutes at 40 feet, six minutes at 30 feet, six minutes at
> >20 feet and 16 minutes at 10 feet.
> >
> >Typically, divers will hang on to the anchor line, reading computers
> >that tell them depth and time.
> >
> >Wilkerson, who had gone down with a metal detector, told his colleagues
> >after the first dive that he got an interesting ``hit'' from an object
> >that could have been brass or another metal.
> >
> >It was cold on the bottom -- 41 degrees -- and visibility was poor. That
> >would improve as the day wore on.
> >
> >``It was crystal clear,'' said diver J.T. Barker, who descended to the
> >wreck several hours later.
> >
> >But the teams were unable to locate the cannon, and time was running
> >out. The pressure to come up with proof of Juno's existence was growing.
> >
> >Shortly after 2 p.m., Wilkerson decided to make one last dive.
> >
> >Consulting his laptop computer, he determined he could spend up to 15
> >minutes more on the bottom. He had to make those decompression stops to
> >make it safely back.
> >
> >Mike Fantone, who had not yet dived to the wreck, would be his partner.
> >
> >They jumped in the water at 2:55 p.m.
> >
> >Fantone said he helped Wilkerson adjust his fins, which had come loose.
> >They exchanged ``OK'' signals and resumed their descent, stopping at the
> >first hang bar to check each other's equipment. They repeated the
> >procedure at 100 feet and switched from regular compressed air to the
> >helium-oxygen-nitrogen mixture.
> >
> >Wilkerson stopped about 10 feet from the bottom. It was his job to
> >attach a tether to the anchor line so they could safely get back.
> >
> >But when Fantone looked over his shoulder to make sure his partner was
> >following, he said, something was wrong. Wilkerson was pulling down on
> >another rope and becoming entangled in it.
> >
> >``He was really breathing hard, oh Lord, and struggling with the line,''
> >Fantone said.
> >
> >Fantone untangled Wilkerson. He signaled to his friend to calm down and
> >thought, for just a moment, he had succeeded.
> >
> >Then, he noticed Wilkerson's regulator had come out of his mouth and
> >replaced it.
> >
> >``He tried to take a couple of more breaths. But right after that, I
> >looked in his eyes, and they went out. His eyes got all dilated, and he
> >stopped breathing.
> >
> >``After that, there was nothing I could do. The only thing left to do
> >was to send him to the surface.''
> >
> >The surface was Wilkerson's only chance. To decompress properly would
> >take almost an hour.
> >
> >There wasn't time.
> >
> >When Wilkerson's body popped to the surface, pandemonium erupted. The
> >crew threw out a lifeline. Barker jumped in the water bare-shirted to
> >pull his teammate back to the boat.
> >
> >They got him to the rear deck, ripped off his mask and immediately began
> >cardiopulmonary resuscitation and mouth-to-mouth breathing, frequently
> >rolling him on his side to clear his airway.
> >
> >Several minutes later, Fantone surfaced, yelling for his friend. He was
> >risking his own life by ascending without going through decompression
> >stops, but he had to know.
> >
> >Don't worry, we've got him, they said; get back down there.
> >
> >Fantone descended and hung on the anchor line, weeping while he waited
> >the agonizing minutes before surfacing.
> >
> >Crew members probably knew there was no hope, but they kept up a steady
> >rhythm, pressing on Wilkerson'sheart and attempting to breathe for their
> >friend. They would suck in pure oxygen from a cylinder and expel it into
> >his lungs.
> >
> >``Jeez, come on Tai,'' one of them would say. They took turns. They
> >refused to give up.
> >
> >It was after 5 p.m. when a Coast Guard boat arrived on the scene.
> >Wilkerson was fitted with an oxygen bottle and transferred to the other
> >boat. A Navy ship in the vicinity, the Vicksburg, also lent a hand.
> >
> >Wilkerson was transferred by Navy helicopter to the Vicksburg while Navy
> >personnel continued to administer CPR. Then, the decision was made to
> >transfer him to Norfolk Sentara Hospital because it has a decompression
> >chamber.
> >
> >Such devices can overcome the effects of decompression sickness by
> >putting patients under pressure, forcing gas bubbles to contract.
> >
> >``Apparently, they think there's hope, if they're taking him to
> >decompression,'' said Dave Wyden, another member of the Lynnhaven crew.
> >
> >As a Coast Guard helicopter picked up Wilkerson from the Vicksburg for
> >the trip to Norfolk, a member of the Navy crew radioed to the pilot what
> >everyone was thinking: ``Godspeed.''
> >
> >But it was not to be. At 6:53 p.m., on the way to the hospital,
> >Wilkerson was pronounced dead.
> >
> >On Thursday, Dr. Leah Bush, chief medical examiner, said an
> >investigation into the cause of death was ongoing. But she said, ``It
> >does not appear at this time to be equipment malfunction or diver error.
> >It appears to be an accidental death precipitated by a natural event.''
> >
> >But Wednesday night as darkness fall and the dive team headed back,
> >Wilkerson's friends did not know of his fate and held out hope.
> >
> >And they spoke of his dedication to diving.
> >
> >``He'd talk your ear off about it,'' said Hillier on the Bridge of
> >``Miss Lindsey.''
> >
> >``There were very few people who went as far as he did,'' Hillier said.
> >``There's no rhyme or reason to things, sometimes -- you know?''
> >
> >
> >
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >PILOT ONLINE - NEWS
> >
>
> --
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Sadly this is true, the facts are still coming in but this appears to be
what happened.
jackie smith
--
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