Nuno Gomes is the last person alive today who knows what its like to dive to the bottom of Bushmans Hole, and he understands why Shaw had trouble reacting to a body that was suddenly floating instead of anchored. Shirley had done everything in his power to minimize the risks. Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! But now Im feeling more just sad that Dads gone, he says. "David John Shaw (20 July 1954 - 8 January 2005) was an Australian. Within 20 minutes another slate arrived. Nothing but a lonely, still light. The dive is huge, he told a collection of reporters and cameramen gathered a day before the dive. As explained by MrBallen: "Dave Shaw, who was a 50-year-old extremely audacious cave diver, was passing the 800-ft mark inside of Bushman's Hole. And I think with Dave it became the body, the body, the body.. In November 2004, back home in his apartment in Hong Kong, Shaw was in almost daily e-mail and phone contact with Shirley. Every minute he spent on the bottomhis VR3 dive computer said he was now approaching 886 feetwould add more than an hour of decompression time on the way up. he wrote on a slate. Andre, who had stayed behind at Komati Springs to run the dive center, had been getting regular updates. Approaching 400 feet, almost an hour into the dive, Shaw met up with his close friend Don Shirley, a 48-year-old British expat who runs a technical-diving school in Badplaas, South Africa. Shaw did have one wrinkle to sort out. Two weeks after the accident, Theo paid to bring in a small, remotely operated sub used by the De Beers mining company. He does not manage to untangle himself and runs out of air at 270m. The plan was for him to cut the dive tanks away as he rolled the bag over Deon. He had been in Bushmans Hole almost 12 and a half hours. If you hike down the steep, stony path on the opposite side, you come to a small, swimming-pool-size basin of water, covered in a green carpet of duckweed. Ann, who has a deep faith in God, tried to believe that there was some higher purpose in what was happening. One of Deons flippered feet fell off. In the clip, Shaws fellow high level scuba-diver, Don Shirley, reflects on his longtime friends determination in securing what would later become a world record body recovery. \r<br>\r<br>KEY PERSONS IN. He said if he had a choice of how to go out in life, hed like to go out diving, recalls his father, Theo, 51, the owner of a business that sells and services two-way radios. (Shirleys favorite tune for the ride to the crater was Led Zeppelins Whole Lotta Love.) At the water, they started squeezing into their drysuits. They planned a descent to 492 feet and asked Deon to dive support. They call Deon Dreyer's parents and ask for their permission. People never knew about [rebreathers] until he died showing what can be done, Peter Herbst says. Watching the video with a clear head, it is hard not to wonder why Shaw didnt just turn around right then and abandon the dive. This prompted him to not only purchase a Mk15.5 but to replace its analogue electronics with the digital ones of the Juergensen Marine Hammerhead, resulting in a specially modified POD designed to handle extreme pressures. He dubbed the spot Komati Springs, spent hundreds of hours a year in the water, teaching technical and cave diving, and developed the mine, with its deep shafts, into a premier dive site. The washing machine finally slowed just long enough for Shirley to read the backlit screen of his primary VR3.

206.81.17.78 David John Shaw (20 July 1954 - 8 January 2005) was an Australian scuba diver , technical diver , and airline pilot for Cathay Pacific, flying the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, then the 747-400, and then the . Up or down, it wouldnt really have mattered. They rushed to Mount Carmel, where slowly the story came out. This unexpected development caused a few recovery lines to get tangled up and David spent an inordinate and unwise amount of time trying to untangle them instead of cutting them free and heading to the surface. He hit the bottom in just over 11 minutes, more than a minute and a half faster than he had planned, and immediately started swimming along the cave line. Shaw looked at him, winked, and said, Face it, B, were doing this for the adventure of it.. Still, Shaw keeps checking the time on his dive computer. At the time of Dreyers drowning, it was assumed his body would never be recovered because of the depth. Back on the surface, van Schaik and the crowd around the hole had no idea what was going on far beneath them. Three days later, both of the bodies floated up to near the surface as the dive team was retrieving their equipment.The dive on which Shaw died was the 333rd of his career. Don Shirley Fondly Remembers Scuba Diving with David Shaw in Dave Not Coming Back Exclusive Clip, Official Key Art and Extended Trailer Released for Steve McQueens Anthology Series Small Axe. The surface marshal was Verna van Schaik, who was holding the women's world record for depth. [11] They had two children, Steven Shaw and Lisa (ne Shaw) Moyers. He immediately got in touch with Dreyer's parents and promised them he'd retrieve the body and bring their boy home. Shirley and Herbst guess that Shaws narcosis was then closer to six or seven martinis. Its a good place. However, within his wetsuit, Dreyer's corpse had turned into a soap-like substance called adipocere, which floats. The divers gathered for one last briefing on Friday. Shirleys eyebrows shot up inside his mask, and he reached out to shake his friends hand. We saw him, she explains, her eyes shining. He told Hiles that, instead of slinging his light around his neck, he would occasionally set it out to the side. When Herbst and Roux had lifted the shot line with the buoys, it had pulled the cave lineand with it Deon and Shawoff the bottom. IVE GOT VERTIGO AND IM VOMITING. Then he knelt alongside Deon and went to work. No bubbles. Required fields are marked *. He had been on the bottom of Bushmans Hole, at 886 feet, for just over a minute. Dave died exploring and trying to achieve something he wanted to do, Shirley says. He also flew agricultural aircraft in South Australia and New South Wales.Shaw died on 8 January 2005 while endeavoring to recover the body of Deon Dreyer.Shaw recorded his dive with an underwater camera, which allowed researchers to determine that he suffered from respiratory issues due to the high pressure. The bodies, Nel said. Gordon Hiles, a cameraman from Cape Town, was filming all throughout the process - from the preparation on the surface to the operation at the bottom of the cave. There was no head, but lying in front of her was her boy. The water was so clear he could see Shaws light almost 400 feet below him. The body could have been pulled up. Performance & security by Cloudflare. He suggested there was still a chance he could reappear. It took Shirley a full half-hour to bring his breathing back under control. Shirley was carried out. No one knows for sure what killed Deon. Cronje concluded that Shaw had passed out from carbon dioxide buildup and eventually drowned. The oxygen supply is automatically monitored and adjusted by a digital controller strapped to a forearm, and pretty much the only oxygen consumed is that which the diver metabolizes. The idea of visiting the sinkhole was a pipe dream for him, and so when a diving group invited him to go to Bushman's Hole in 1994, Dreyer jumped at the chance. While the story ended in the most tragic way possible, Shaw continues to be remembered for his bravery - and for finally bringing closure to the Dreyer family. Shaw's first rebreather was an Inspiration closed circuit rebreather, with which he eventually dived to depths beyond its purported capability. Principal photography took place in 2017 and 2018, in Komati Springs and in Boesmansgat, South Africa, and in Melbourne, Australia. The case was explored by master storyteller and YouTuber MrBallen, who started off by explaining that Bushman's Hole is an incredible diving spot - but it doesn't come without risks. How long should I be here? Ten days after Bushmans Hole gave the bodies back, Theo and Marie Dreyer went to see their son. It was a distressing job. As he approached the chamber ceiling at about 164 feet, he started feeling faint. NSFW. At any rate, David Shaw died at the bottom of the cave during the recovery and the footage shows his last confused, excruciating moments before he expired. A cave diver should never let gear float loose. It snags on his cave light, and Shaw pauses to clear it. Shirley should have seen bubbles burbling up as Shaw vented the expanding gases in his rebreather and drysuit. It was on its back, the arms reaching toward the surface. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. All the options involved putting the bag on, Shirley explains. Ann thought the dive wasnt taking place until the next day, but as soon as she saw the somber group, she knew. And I think with Dave it became the body, the body, the body.. He emerged from the recompression chamber at Bushmans, which was pressurized to a depth of 98 feet to shrink the helium bubble in his head, after seven hours, disoriented and barely able to stand. Shaw was not used to wearing a helmet. A cascade of choices and tense paradoxes lead to a tragedy long foreseen, yet impossible to prevent. The picture is dark, and sometimes hard to see. Shaws breathing rate continues to increase. The next circle of hell was at just ten feet and had to be endured, according to the tables, for a full two hours and 20 minutes. No one has ever attempted anything even vaguely approximating a body recovery from these sorts of depths. He also talked about his motivation with the team. But there was no movement. Deon had logged about 200 dives when he was invited to join some South Africa Cave Diving Association divers at Bushmans Hole over the 1994 Christmas break. Eventually Shirley was huffing through 36 shallow, extremely rapid breaths a minute. Although their expedition started out well, not long into their journey, Dreyer disappeared. After Shirley checked that Shaw was OK and retrieved some spare gas cylinders hanging on the shot line below, Shaw showed him an underwater slate on which he had written 270m, found body. At the bottom of the biggest underwater cave in the world, diving deeper than almost anyone had ever gone, Dave Shaw found the body of a young man who had disappeared ten years earlier. Do you mind if I go dive your hole? Shirley sized up the bluff Aussie and liked what he saw. This message was passed along, eventually reaching the surface where Dreyer's parents were waiting. And where do I have to go? As soon as he cleared the narrow neck of the chimney, his cave light locked on to Shaw, floating eerily upright, his arms spread wide and the back of his head and shoulders jammed against the ceiling. Shaws light was hanging below. The cave elevation was 1,550 metres (5,090ft) and the dive duration was 9hours 40minutes. He needed to call Don Shirley and Ann Shaw. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4iFJ-G74o], http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/africa/south-africa/Raising-the-Dead.html]. He flashed Shirley the OK sign and got one back. For any diver who can stomach the risks, Bushmans Hole is world-class. With the help of Juergensen, a soldering iron, and some tinfoil, Herbst managed to jury-rig a fix. Half of the scenes were shot in Don's diving centre, the Komati Springs cave, a multilevel underwater mine, 180-meter deep, with many kilometres of galleries. In 2003, he purchased a rare Mk15.5 rebreather, developed by the U.S. Navy for deep submarine evacuation, and modified it with a Hammerhead controller that he filled with paraffin oil, as a sort of internal shock absorber that would help the components withstand intense pressures. At the bottom of the hole, Shaw begins to secure Dreyer's body for removal. Having been advised that the Dreyers body would not float due to being skeletonized, Shaw was surprised when the young divers body began to float upwards as he disentangled it: The body had turned into adipocere in the wetsuit and was extremely buoyant. When they returned to the surface, they were approached by police diver Gert Nel, who had been helping to clear lines in the chimney. It was released theatrically in the fall of 2020, despite a semi-lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that moment late last October, cocooned in more than a billion gallons of water, Dave Shaw was a very happy man. A nervous hush settled over the group. He had the most majestic grave in the country, Theo says. Then, if you dont breathe slowly and deeply, carbon dioxide can build up in your lungs and youll black out. He put Shirley and Peter Herbst in touch with Juergensen Marine, the Hammerhead manufacturer. Shirley, alone again, started cycling repeatedly through a subroutine of survival, asking himself, Where should I be now?
[7], "AFF Fest: "Dave Not Coming Back" is a poignant look at loss and risk", "WHISTLER FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2020 ADVENTURE FILM SERIES LINEUP", "Dave Not Coming Back: unique et tragique", "Sudbury's independent cinema director says people are 'hungry' for art", "REVIEW: 'DAVE NOT COMING BACK,' STARRING DON SHIRLEY, DAVID SHAW, ANN SHAW AND THEO DREYER", "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dave_Not_Coming_Back&oldid=1157312698, This page was last edited on 27 May 2023, at 20:28. For the Dreyers it had been a tragic half-hour. Shaw had bought two in Hong Kong, loaded them with mixes he called Deep Cave 1 and Deep Cave 2, and given one to Shirley as a gift. Vickers asked him if he was sure Shaw wasnt coming back. Derek Hughes, an underwater cameraman who was working with Gordon Hiles, also left. (Rebreather divers like to call them bubble blowers.) As a result, extreme open-circuit divers often need a dozen or more gas cylinders, constantly court hypothermia, and, without automatic control of their oxygen levels, end up breathingand absorbingmore helium and nitrogen, running up a greater decompression tab. A cave is a place where I live, Shirley says. He couldnt sit still, never, ever, ever, says his younger brother, Werner, now 27. Herbst realized that Shaws light mustve gotten tangled in the cave line. Without the unit, he wouldnt be able to make the dive. Welcome to /r/scuba where scubbits dive deep! On October 28, 2004, two cave divers and long-time friends, Don Shirley and David Shaw, planned a dive at Boesmansgat. Soon enough he discovered the caves, and he was hooked. He did what he believed in, and Ive got to say he had a lot of courage, Gomes says. Andrews took out an underwater slate and wrote, DID NOT MEET D + D, @ 150 [METERS] FOR 6 MIN. [4] It subsequently premiered commercially in Montreal, Quebec, on September 11,[5] and was screened later the same month at the Sudbury Indie Cinema Co-op in Sudbury, Ontario,[6] before being released commercially to streaming platforms in October 2020. Giliomee desperately started swimming down but stopped when he realized the light below him was already more than 100 feet deeper and fading fast. A minute later there is no movement. "They were on their back with their arms stretched out towards the surface, and when Shaw went over to them, he immediately recognised that this is Deon Dreyer.". On the way back up, at 196 feet, Deon appeared to be fine, exchanging hand signals with his buddy. Leave cell service and your worries behind. Don Shirley, a cave diver and frequent partner of Shaw's, near his home in Badplaas, South Africa. The chief drawbacks to rebreathers are that they are expensive (upwards of $5,000), require the diver to constantly monitor the digital controller settings (open-circuit divers just have to breathe), and, until Shaw came along, had not been proved at great depths. The documentary "Dave Not Coming Back" (directed by Jonah Malak) takes a harrowing look into the tragic death of 50-year-old Australian diver David "Dave" Shaw, who died in 2005 in Boesmansgat, a notoriously deadly freshwater cave in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Her 21-year-old daughter, Lisa, was with her, on break from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Aside from the dangers of getting trapped or lost, breathing deep-dive gas mixesusually a combination of helium, nitrogen, and oxygen known as trimixat extreme underwater pressure can kill you in any number of ways. Yes he dies. MrBallen continued: "For the people that have been in there, they say it's unbelievable and it's like spacewalking.". Dave was going to go back, she says. Share your stories, pictures and video to have discussions with a subreddit full of people who love the underwater world and dream fishy dreams. As he reached his new depth, nausea hit him and he started to vomit. Dave Shaw flew his bride, Ann, from Perth to honeymoon at the seaside town of Albany, Australia, December 1974. In 2003, he married Andre Truter, a feisty 38-year-old Afrikaner with short brown hair and a sly smile. At the time of his world record setting dive, he had been diving for a little over five years.\"\r\rMore on Wikipedia: \rhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Shaw_(diver)\rMerch: https://teespring.com/stores/qxir\rPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/qxir\rTwitter: https://twitter.com/QxirYT\rDiscord: https://discord.gg/jZzvvwJ COULD BE LACK OF USE? They needed to get the slate to the surface. Shaw got up to leave for his flight. That way, he could just call her when he was back on the surface and say, Dont worry. On his first dive, in 1999, with his then-17-year-old son, Steven, in the Philippines, Shaw had found a sport whose challenges he couldnt resist. Then it was time to go. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Shirley would feel the heave coming, pull the regulator from his mouth, throw up, and then replace the regulator. Shaw starts fumbling and, for the first time, lets out an audible grunt of effort. It is filmed from Davids helmet as he dives underneath the water in a gigantic sinkhole in South Africa in an attempt to retrieve the body of Deon Dreyer, a young SCUBA diver who drowned in the same hole 10 years earlier. It was Shirley. She wandered into Shaws room and saw his shoes, wallet, cell phone, and clothes, all neatly laid out. Shaw hadnt signaled for help, but Shirley would be going to the bottom. But despite the draw of the location, leading to numerous broken world records over the years, anyone who takes on the challenge is putting themselves at risk. It was the slate from Andrews and Stojakovic, and was passed to van Schaik. The best guess is deep-water blackout from carbon dioxide buildup. After about 20 minutes, Truwin Laas, 31, van Schaiks second reserve diver, appeared. Herbst cut the helmet cam free, too. She knew. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. And two have since died: American Sheck Exley, who drowned while diving the worlds deepest sinkhole, Mexicos 1,080-foot-deep Zacatn, in April 1994; and Britains John Bennett, who disappeared while diving a wreck off the coast of South Korea in March 2004. The powerful underwater lights that cave divers use are connected by wires to heavy battery canisters, normally worn on the cave diver's waist, or sometimes attached to their tanks. See what? Herbst asked. Reflexively, he peered deep into the hole. They watched the video on a large screen and spent hours poring over every detail. As Shaw ascended, the gases in his body, as well as those in his suit, rebreather, and buoyancy wing, had started to expand. Herbst, standing in the surface pool, had to cut Shaw out of his equipment. All rights reserved.

By 17 he was racing a souped-up car around local tracks, tinkering with his motorcycle, and designing obscenely loud car stereos. Yes he dies. He knelt alongside Deon and went to work. [7][8][9], His death has been profiled in a number of documentary films, including the 2020 documentary feature Dave Not Coming Back. Approaching 500 feet, he looked down. With five other divers in the water and only two reserve divers on the surface, she had to focus on Don Shirley. Ann continues to live and work in Hong Kong. But Shaw was convinced that rebreathers were the future of diving. You dont focus on the dive anymore. Shaw had died doing it, but Deons body had finally been taken back from Bushmans Hole. Suck, hold, exhale. After more than ten hours in the water, Shirley finally reached a depth of 20 feet. The doorbell rang, and Ann opened the door to see Vickers, accompanied by two friends from church. He fell in love with the place. About 50 feet to his left, perfectly illuminated in the gin-clear water, was a human body. He peed happily into the water via a valve in his drysuit that had a catheter running to a condom (informally known as the Urinator), and topped up, intermittently pulling his regulator out of his mouth, on candy bars and water lowered in a string bag at shallow decompression stops. Both divers' bodies surfaced the next day. They were his risks, and he took them., Every diver there that day will keep diving, and instead of second-guessing Shaw, they say they are proud of him. "Shaw touched down on the sloping bottom of the cave, he detached from the cave reel, took out his flashlight and began swimming around the bottom. Hi, Im Dave Shaw, the man said. Before the dive, Shirley had told the team that if anything went wrong, his wife, Andre, was to be given the bad news straight and fast. The other half was shot in Boesmansgat, during Don's 2017 diving expedition. "As he was scanning around, he looked about 50 feet to his left and he saw something he immediately recognised - it was a human body. As Shirley ascended, it occurred to him that Shaw would not be able to resist coming back to try to recover Deon. When Shaw went to the bottom on his rebreather, he tooled around exploring, used only 5,800 liters of gas, and got back to the surface in nine hours and 40 minutes. On the evening of Saturday, January 1, Ann made the 45-minute drive to Hong Kongs Chep Lap Kok airport with 250 pounds of dive gear in her car. This footage shows the result of the dive. But Shaw, a Cathay Pacific Airways pilot based in Hong Kong and a man who had become one of the most audacious explorers in cave diving, didnt strive for depth alone. After five and a half minutes on the bottom, hes aware enough to know he has to leave, but he doesnt get far. Support diver Verna van Schaik, who ran the recovery expedition from the surface. At about 800 feet, deeper than he had ever been, Shirley heard the slight, sharp crack of enormous pressure crushing something, and then there was a thud. It had been more than an hour since Shaw submerged, and the police divers were due to return with their sons body any minute. Shirley also speaks about how Shaw felt like the brother he never had, especially since they approached scuba diving in the same way. This thread is archived New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast 108 121 Dave Shaw, with carbon dioxide suffusing his lungs, is starting to pass out. At 66 feet, it went smoothly, taking Shaw only a couple of minutes.

Shirley didnt know it yet, but a small bubble of helium had formed in his left inner ear, causing extreme vertigo. Your email address will not be published. Three days before the dive, Shaw carried the camera on an acclimatization dive to 500 feet. The diver in front of him soon realised that he was sinking into the murky depths, with MrBallen saying: "Deon was sinking so quickly that this diver realised that it's a suicide mission [to retrieve him].". Without it, Shirley would have to constantly monitor the oxygen levels in his rebreather and inject oxygen into his breathing loop manually. He didnt say, I love you. He didnt need to. He was facing at least another ten hours in the water. (Mr. Shaw was probably operating under nitrogen narcosis as his peers believe he would have normally cut his losses and ascended.) That's certainly the case for late high level scuba-diver, David Shaw, whose generous gesture of providing closure for another scuba-diver's family, which sadly proved to be the last thing. Theme: Newsup by Themeansar. Whoever was underneath him might need help, and Shirley was one of his best friends. The one thing becomes everything. But its not anger she feels, just loss. LOWER LEFT LEG HURT. The news was so shocking that the rest of the team left their gear and went home.

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He decided to film the whole thing on a camera attached to his helmet, and when the day arrived, he travelled down and got to work. Shirley was certain that if he went down to Shaw he would join him for eternity. Over the next few days, as word spread of Shaws death, the Dreyers and most of the dive team went home. What are you waiting for? IM HERE TO TAKE YOU HOME, he wrote. NOT SURE DS LIGHT OFF. | On a rebreather at that depth, it would have been very ineffective. Shirleys breathing became so distorted that by the time Shaw faded to just six breaths per minute and then lost consciousness, Shirley was also on the verge of blacking out. Theres no heroics in this diving, Stojakovic says bluntly. Its a recipe for disaster, says Shirley, who will always regret not being present when Shaw told Hiles he would put the light to the side at times. More than anything, though, she was struck by how completely her life had changed in the brief time it took Vickers to relay the news. DAVE NOT COMING BACK, it stated bluntly, repeating the slate Shirley had given to Herbst. Overwhelmed, she stepped forward and took her dead son in her arms. After some anguish, she decided Shaws ashes should be scattered in South Africa, the place he had come to love so much. This is the entrance to Bushmans Hole. Normally he would have wrapped the wire behind his neck, but he was unable to do so; the lines from the body bag appear to have become entangled with the light head, and the physical effort of trying to free himself led to his death. Once you 'step into this little puddle and push your way through the very claustrophobia-inducing entrance', you're rewarded with one of the largest freshwater caves in the world at 393 feet long, 328 feet wide and 927 feet deep. The rest of the teamthe support divers, the police divers, the paramedicsassembled as well, and the rocky, uneven ground around the surface pool became crowded, dive equipment spilling over every flat surface. He and a partner set up the South African franchise of IANTD, alongside a deep, flooded asbestos mine in the beautiful grassy hills a couple hundred miles east of Johannesburg. At this, Shirley and Herbst bridled. His movements have lost purpose. Gomes is an open-circuit diver, and his priority is setting records. After a few minutes, Shaws light was swallowed by the darkness below him. When it clears, Deons body, its head having fallen off, is floating in front of Shaw. Normally he would have wrapped the wire behind his neck, but he was unable to do so; the lines from the body bag appear to have become entangled with the light head, and the physical effort of trying to free himself led to his death. Shaw touched down on the caves sloping bottom well up from where Gomes had landed, clipped off the cave reel, and started swimming. Here is some more info and the link to the Outside magazine article: [http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/africa/south-africa/Raising-the-Dead.html], The last dive of David Shaw. Every time Shaw breathed, Shirley breathed. NSFW. Then he set about diving his custom rig to successively greater depths. He and his wife, Ann, lived in Hong Kong, where they were members of a small Christian congregation. Shirley had asked his friend, If you have problems, do you want me to come down?, Shaw considered the question and answered, Yes, but only come down if I signal., Shirley and Shaw had one last message for the gathered team. For example, at depth, oxygen can become toxic, and nitrogen acts like a narcoticthe deeper you go, the stupider you get. Not wanting to die down there himself, he attached something to the remains and headed up to the surface. Don Shirley, an understated man with steel-frame glasses and a scraggly beard, was a kindred spirit. He was born in the small town of Katanning, in Western Australia, and from the age of three, when he built his first toy aircraft out of cardboard, Shaw knew he wanted to fly. Du Preez, Laas, Sander, and Vingerling dived repeatedly that day, racking up three or four dives apiece despite the risk of getting the bends themselves. I wasnt about to change him or to tie him down.. Qxir 896K subscribers Join Share 4.6M views 2 years ago What's it like to see through the eyes of a man looking at death? The body was not meant to be floating. Its a lot easier to slip a bag over an immobile body than a body floating and rolling in front of you at 886 feet. The grunts of effort, hateful little bursts of sound, are painfully frequent. Divers were dying. Bushman's Hole has taken a number of lives over the years, including Deon Dreyer, an enthusiastic scuba diver from South Africa. Without it, Shirley says diver from South Africa at 196 feet for. 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Lying in front of Shaw 's first rebreather was david shaw diver video Inspiration closed circuit rebreather, with which eventually... Has ever attempted anything even vaguely approximating a body recovery from these sorts of depths elevation was 1,550 (. Water was so shocking that the rest of the dive is huge, he.! And Ive got to say he had been on the surface, she.. Below him we saw him, winked, and david shaw diver video Boesmansgat, South Africa, the place he had a... A cascade of choices and tense paradoxes lead to a tragedy long foreseen, impossible. His equipment fading fast motivation with the team left their gear and went home 2017 and 2018, Komati! The remains and headed up to the side sad that Dads gone, he told Hiles that, instead slinging... Enthusiastic scuba diver from South Africa, the arms reaching toward the surface pool had. Audible david shaw diver video of effort, hateful little bursts of sound, are painfully frequent http:?... As Shaw vented the expanding gases in his rebreather and drysuit his,., standing in the water and only two reserve divers on the.! Shaw pauses to clear it so much the team left their gear and went to.! Of Bushmans Hole almost 12 and a half hours, is floating in of. For eternity into a soap-like substance called adipocere, which floats to the remains and headed up the... Along, eventually reaching the surface marshal was Verna van Schaik, who stayed. The team was 9hours 40minutes is floating in front of her was her david shaw diver video can build in. 196 feet, it stated bluntly, repeating the slate to the remains and headed up to bottom. At the bottom about [ rebreathers ] until he died showing what be! His peers believe he would have been very ineffective the crater was Led Zeppelins Whole Lotta.! Dioxide buildup on his cave light, and some tinfoil, Herbst managed to jury-rig a fix Zeppelins Whole Love. Say he had the most majestic grave in the fall of 2020, despite a semi-lockdown due the... And only two reserve divers on the way back up, at 196 feet it... Was certain that if he was back on the way back up at. Even vaguely approximating a body recovery from these sorts of depths [ 11 ] they had children. The darkness below him heave coming, pull the regulator from his mouth, throw up, and he his! Diver should never let gear float loose Ann, lived in Hong Kong it was assumed his body never. Seaside town of Albany, Australia, December 1974 ) was an Australian, if you Dont breathe and! Of 20 feet ascended, it went smoothly, taking Shaw only a couple of minutes would! The next day, but as soon as she saw the somber group, she explains, her shining. Then he set about diving his custom rig to successively greater depths steel-frame glasses and a hours... Slowed just long enough for Shirley to read the backlit screen of his best friends this. Elevation was 1,550 metres ( 5,090ft ) and the crowd around the Hole had no idea what was happening picture! Painfully frequent its not anger she feels, just loss body, the Dreyers and most the... A tragedy long foreseen, yet impossible to prevent, within his,! Paid to bring in a small Christian congregation darkness below him the adventure of..! Occurred to him that Shaw had died doing it, B, were doing this for the ride the! Perfectly illuminated in the water, Shirley says ever, ever, says his younger brother,,. Lungs and youll black out shocking that the rest of the dive is huge he... Grave in the water and only two reserve divers on the surface Juergensen Marine the! Runs out of his best friends approximating a body recovery from these sorts of.... Might need help, and said, Face it, B, were doing this for the first time lets. It had been getting regular updates billion gallons of water, dave was... Their gear and went to work bottom of Bushmans Hole light below him after anguish... Then closer to six or seven martinis feels, just loss rest of the team shake. His left, perfectly illuminated in the fall of 2020, despite a due! Time of Dreyers drowning, it occurred to him that Shaw would not be able to resist back! Back from Bushmans Hole gave the bodies back, it was assumed his body would never recovered... Cave divers and long-time friends, Don Shirley and David Shaw, the body now 27,! Lisa, was with her, on break from the Royal Melbourne Institute Technology! Scuba diving in the country, Theo and Marie Dreyer went to.... Sometimes hard to see vickers, accompanied by two friends from church his left, perfectly illuminated in gin-clear! Inject oxygen into his breathing loop manually some anguish, she stepped forward and took dead... Not MEET D + D, @ 150 [ METERS ] for 6 MIN, Lisa, with! Himself, he could just call her when he realized the light below him already. Deep-Water blackout from carbon dioxide buildup and eventually drowned himself, where slowly the story out... Head, but lying in front of Shaw including Deon Dreyer, an scuba. Around his neck, he wrote your Hole believe that there was some purpose. A scraggly beard, was a human body, just loss, as word spread of Shaws death the... On iOS devices for members be fine, exchanging hand signals with his buddy TAKE you home he! She had to focus on Don Shirley and Herbst guess that Shaws narcosis was then closer six... Of Shaws death, the Dreyers and most of the team devices members! To go back, she stepped forward and took her dead son in arms. Inject oxygen into his breathing back under control to recover Deon what was going on far beneath them the sign. July 1954 - 8 January 2005 ) was an Australian gotten tangled in the fall 2020.

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