On The Recent Scuba Diving Tragedy

I read with a tinge of sadness at the news yesterday about the passing of Dr Marcus Lim, on a Scuba diving trip at the 7 Skies wreck in Malaysia.

From what I could understand from the news, Dr Lim, a 37 years old ophthalmologist, was an experienced diver as well as an avid photographer.

Via Google, I was able to find a website that showcases his excellent underwater photography works. (Follow this Link) Looking at his photography is probably one of the ways to remember him by?

The Singapore diving, photography and medical community had indeed lost a young talent.

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Without speculating on whatever happened in the above-mentioned tragedy, I was reminded of my own diving misadventure which was a result of my own complacency and stupidity. It is that kind of complacency that comes along when you begin to think you are getting better at something, and then something bad happens and put you in your rightful place along the learning scale. You start to feel incredibly humble for a while.

Once during a dive, I forgot to ask for a buddy check as per standard procedure. The water condition was choppy so our instructor instructed us to descend immediately to five meters upon exiting the dive boat. This was to avoid staying on the surface as the strong choppy water might pull the group apart.

Once out of the boat, I release all the air in the BCD and descended immediately. I breathed in and suddenly realized that there was no air coming out of my regulator. I had forgotten to turn on my air!

Fortunately, I only panicked a little and began finning a little to keep myself stabilized at a certain depth. I was contemplating losing my weight belt and finning to the surface with whatever air left in my lungs when I spotted my dive buddy. Quickly, I signaled to him I was out of air and also showed him that no air was coming out of my regulator piece. My buddy promptly shared his air as he turned on my tank's air valve.

Reminded of this incident, I'd learnt to become more vigilant in checking my equipments before each dive. Also, I think I need to acquire more training to better enjoy diving.

That being said, I believe that no amount of training and experience can prepare us 100% for freak occurrences. There are always some risks involved in any sporting activity, which training and experience can only manage but not eradicate. The best thing to do when dealing with a life threatening situation is to try an keep a clear head so that training and practice can kick in to deal with it.

Anyway, life is about doing what you enjoy while being mindful of how to deal with the risks involved. Being fearful of risks and consequently not doing what you enjoy for the sake of life preservation is pathetic and not living at all. The Mel Gibson line in "Braveheart" said it all: "Every man dies, but not every man really lives."