Still remembering Dave Vecella

[randy_byers]

I was reminded yesterday that the 13th was the anniversary of Dave Vecella's death. I wrote about learning of his death last January. The reminder of the anniversary also reminded me that a few months after we heard the news from our Yapese friend, Theo, my brother discovered a blog post indicating that Theo's story about how Dave died was wrong. But the post that my brother found was still very vague on the details, so I did some more googling yesterday and found something with further details that seem to confirm this other story.

What Theo told us, as I wrote on February 1st, was that "[Dave] had apparently taken some people out diving, and a young woman started heading away from the group, going deep without heeding the danger. He went after her, and by the time he caught up with her she was out of air. He shared his air with her as they headed to the surface, but he started running low too and so he held his breath and let her have the rest. ... They made it to the surface, and he said he had a headache. He went to the hospital but told them he was feeling fine now. They let him go home, and he went to bed and never woke up."

What this forum post says is, "What I heard from several sources was that he was deep diving with (his buddy). They went down to 284 ft. on the way up they were supposed to pick up tanks at 150 ft that they had left on the reef, but they couldn't find the tanks because of currents. Apparently (his dive buddy) started to panic and he shared his air . . . . they ran out of air about 60 ft. and had to head up fast. They were both taken to hospital and put in the chamber. He was in a couple of times I think, but he was non responsive and then his heart failed . . . ."

These stories are obviously significantly different, other than that in both he shares his air and surfaces before the nitrogen has left his bloodstream, causing the bends. The second story is still hazy on why the hyperbaric chamber was unable to save him. Above all, however, I really wonder how Theo's version of the story -- with the foolish girl leading Dave to his death -- came into existence. Was Dave's diving buddy a woman? Is this other story meant to protect somebody's identity? The dive they were on is described elsewhere as a technical exercise, perhaps to see how deep they could go. When my niece and I took the advanced diving course from Dave, the deep dive we went on was 100 feet, which is the level at which you supposedly can start suffering from nitrogen narcosis, or "raptures of the deep."

Anyway, as I was thinking about Dave this morning, there was part of me that felt I should correct the story here. Doug Faunt is out sailing, so he won't see this, which is too bad. He was the one who helped me understand what it was that probably killed Dave after I related Theo's version of the story.

In any event, here's to you, Dave. I hope someday to visit your grave on the hill above Kadai, looking out on the reef and beyond.

Comments

[ron-drummond.livejournal.com]

Even a perfectly accurate story finally disintegrates around the mystery of the event itself -- no one will ever know the texture and fullness of those moments for him as he lived and died through them, the tenor of the rapture or confusion, the pain and illumination and slow fade, the long spiral of memories and sensations intertwined before vanishing. Wherever is he now? One place is in your heart and memory, in words and tales here and elsewhere, which is perhaps the finest afterlife anyone can hope for. A lasting echo in the immortal, transient chamber of we-the-living. Bless you, Randy.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

You're right. The more I think about the other story, the more questions I have. There is always a mystery around such things. One thing that seems probable is that people are trying to protect the identity of the dive buddy who panicked, and I can understand that.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Yes; that makes sense.

I'm relieved to hear it appears there wasn't an utterly reckless, novice diver involved after all. Thank you for your follow-up.

And, yes, here's to Dave.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I find that I'm still struggling to make sense of the story, but I suppose it's the memory of Dave that matters. People still occasionally post to his brother's memorial for him, talking about how much they miss him. That's how I found out about the anniversary.

[n6tqs.livejournal.com]

Wow, the second story is VERY different. And dumps the responsibility on him, to a very large extent. Expecting to pick up new tanks from the reef is not a safe plan. I can make no judgement about the likelyhood of him doing such a thing, since I didn't know him.

The "utterly reckless novice diver" (anyone can get narced, BTW) absolves him of any fault- the tanks "left on the reef" makes him responsible.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

That's what I think too, if this story is true.

One of the things I was talking about with my brother and nephew at Thanksgiving was the "technical dive" aspect of this. Our conclusion was that if they were diving to 284 feet, they would have been testing some kind of special mix of air. Is that right? Wouldn't that theoretically prevent narcosis? Can you dive to 284 without getting narcosis?

I also still find the details about the decompression chamber really vague and confusing. If they put Dave in the chamber, why bring him out before he was okay? Could have the damage been done before he was put in the chamber?