jb accident

[curtschu]

It appears maybe not but that is just the scuttlebut at the moment. stand by for more details and lets not speculate to much.

[fazerkid78]

http://www.jcfloridan.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JCF/MGArticle/JCF_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149193562710&pat h=!news

[RN]

For when the link is no longer active:

Man who died cave diving was Marianna resident


By KATE McCARDELL
Jackson County Floridan
March 7, 2007

Officials confirmed Tuesday the identity of the diver who died inside a spring cave at Blue Springs Recreational Area, as well as details surrounding his death.
Jackson County Sheriff John McDaniel said ************, 48, of Dogwood Heights near Marianna, died of drowning Monday after becoming stuck in Jackson Blue, the spring cave that lies in close proximity to a recreational diving board inside the park.

*******is survived by his wife and two daughters. He was the owner and operator of **************, where he designed and built automotive paint booths.

According to McDaniel, *******had been a certfied open-water diver for more than 20 years, but he did not have the required certification for cave diving. He had frequently dove at other caves, including Twin Caves and Hole-in-the-Wall at Merritt's Mill Pond in Marianna.

"Cave diving is a trial enough when you do have the training and certification," said McDaniel, "When you do it without the certification, you're just asking for trouble. It's like flying a plane into the wild blue yonder without being trained to fly."

McDaniel confirmed some of the details surrounding ********** death. He said ********* was diving with his friend, certified cave diver *********** of Marianna, when ******* apparently became stuck. ********** surfaced and called for help.

The sheriff's office and local cave-diving expert Edd Sorenson responded within minutes.

McDaniel said that the sheriff's diving squad is not cave-certfiied, so Sorenson did a search inside the spring cave for the missing diver.

Sorenson recovered *********** body four minutes into the search, approximately 600 feet from the mouth of the cave, which lies about 85 feet from the surface.

******* was no longer wearing his double tanks, which he probably removed in a state of panic, said McDaniel. An autopsy later confirmed that the cause of death was drowning.

As for ******** diving partner *******, whether or not he will face any charges has yet to be determined, pending investigation. A sheriff's press release reported that ******** has been a diver for about 30 years and works at an area dive shop.

McDaniel, who is a diver himself, said the longest part of the process of recovering ******** body was most likely Sorenson's ascent after finding him. Sorenson might have had to stop for decompression before exiting the water.

A decompression stop is when a diver spends time at the end of his dive at a constant depth in shallow water. This is a measure to eliminate harmful gases that the body absorbs while diving. Not doing so could lead to decompression sickness, otherwise know as "the bends."

McDaniel said that this is not the first diving fatality in Jackson County.

"We've had divers all over this county drown, usually people who aren't cave certified. I'd say about eight to 12 people in the past 30 years," said McDaniel, "When you push your limits or experience level, you're putting your life on the line."

[aw]

My prayers go to the surviving buddy also. Dove with him recently. Everything was top notch, by the book. Great cave diver and very helpful.

[Tegg]

Just wondering why the names were removed from the post above of the article?

Apparently RN did it himself. It's not something a moderator would do.

[FW]

Apparently RN did it himself. It's not something a moderator would do.

Not *after* the names were in the paper. I blanked out a name last time, because the next of kin had not been notified at the time.

[Line Squirrel]

Everything was top notch, by the book.

By the book...he knowingly took an AOW diver with scooters into cave after signing in at the Sheriffs office!

[aw]

Not on the day we dove. I'm speaking of the day we dove.

[Line Squirrel]

Not on the day we dove. I'm speaking of the day we dove.

I'm sorry AW. I didn't meen to imply that at all. I was strictly referring to the accident.