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Diving deaths
This project is mean to collect profiles of people who have died by diving into water (as opposed to deep water diving, or scuba diving, deaths).
From The Mayfield Clinic for Brain and Spine:
Public Service Announcement:
Shallow-water diving can lead to devastating injuries; When diving, make sure the water is deep!
Robert Bohinski, MD, PhD
CINCINNATI- Diving into shallow water can result in devastating and irreversible injuries to the spinal cord, warns Robert Bohinski, MD, PhD, a Mayfield Clinic neurosurgeon and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Spinal cord injury occurs when the spinal cord, a bundle of nerves that runs down the back from the base of the brain to the waist, is damaged or severed by trauma. This can occur during a dive into shallow water if the diver’s head strikes the bottom, causing the vertebrae that encircle the spinal cord to collapse. If the spinal cord is damaged and is unable to transmit nerve impulses to and from the brain, paralysis occurs.
“When the entire weight of one’s body is hits the bottom of a pool or rock, the force transmitted to the cervical spine is incredible”
“When the entire weight of one’s body is hits the bottom of a pool or rock, the force transmitted to the cervical spine is incredible,” Dr. Bohinski explains. “The physics of what happens is unforgiving, as a diver can enter the water at 15 feet per second. Consider that most of these accidents occur in water that is less than 3 feet deep, and you see why the result is often severe damage to the spinal cord and -- all too often -- complete paralysis.
“These accidents, which are completely preventable, leave an individual dependent on machines for the rest of his or her life.” As many as one of every 10 injuries to the cervical spinal cord is caused by a diving accident. The victims are predominantly male.
Dr. Bohinski urges parents, teachers, camp counselors, and coaches to impress upon young people the hazards of diving into shallow water. He believes that diving should be performed in water that is at least 10- to 12-feet deep. Swimmers and divers should enter the water feet first to determine depth. The ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation urges swimmers never to dive into an above-ground pool.
According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, an estimated 11,000 spinal cord injuries occur in the United States each year. Males suffer 81.2 percent of these injuries. Diving is the fourth leading cause of spinal cord injury among males and the fifth leading cause among females.
http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PSA_DivingSafety.htm#.Vg1wA0buPd4
resources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Diving_deaths
- "Kids risk death diving for gold in the Philippines" Human Rights Watch
- TWENTY-ONE FATHOMS DOWN. (1934, August 14). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32950183
- Female pearling statue Broome The beautiful statue of a female pearl diver on the Conti Foreshore represents a pregnant Aboriginal diver. The statue encapsulates the contribution of women to the pearling industry. The inscription reads "And precious the tear as that rain from the sky, Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea" (Thomas Moore). The location represents the place where families of indentured labourers were houses, awaiting their of their loved ones at the end of the neap tides...The Conti foreshore provided an open view of the bay in the days before the luggers were equipped with radios.
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