whidbey man died while diving

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Blaiz
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whidbey man died while diving

Post by Blaiz »

I don't know this fellow, but figured I'd post in case anyone else does.

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/whidbey/wnt ... 99823.html
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Joshua Smith
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Joshua Smith »

Hey,everyone. I need to write a thing or two here, before this heads down the usual path:

I wasn't on this trip, but most of my dive buddies, the bulk of the Maritime Documentation Society, were. Marc was a good friend of ours. We are mourning for him, and licking our wounds right now. Please give us some time to deal with this and respect our privacy. I will tell you that details will be revealed eventually, but right now, we don't want to talk about it. All I will say is that everything that could possibly be done for Marc, was- both below and above the water.

RIP, Mark.
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Grateful Diver
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Grateful Diver »

I read about this over on ScubaBoard and was wondering if he was part of your wrecking crew, Josh.

I also ran into Maverick just before he left for this trip, so I was thinking he might have been.

Sorry for the loss of your friend ...

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airsix
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by airsix »

I did not know Mark, but I know that several prominent NWDC members knew and worked closely with him. My sincere condolences go out to each of you.
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Tom Nic
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Tom Nic »

So sorry... my heart felt condolences to everyone who knew Mark and to all of us who are impacted at some level every time we loose a member of our community.
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Dusty2
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Dusty2 »

Joshua Smith wrote:Hey,everyone. I need to write a thing or two here, before this heads down the usual path:

I wasn't on this trip, but most of my dive buddies, the bulk of the Maritime Documentation Society, were. Marc was a good friend of ours. We are mourning for him, and licking our wounds right now. Please give us some time to deal with this and respect our privacy. I will tell you that details will be revealed eventually, but right now, we don't want to talk about it. All I will say is that everything that could possibly be done for Marc, was- both below and above the water.

RIP, Mark.
Sorry to hear that Josh,

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Lonestar
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Lonestar »

RIP and condolences to his family, friends, and dive partners
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Matt S.
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Matt S. »

Very sad. Condolences. :(
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Penopolypants
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Penopolypants »

My heart goes out to his friends and family, and especially those who were with him when he passed. I'm glad to hear that he was surrounded by people who cared.
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ljjames
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by ljjames »

so sorry.. hugs...
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John Rawlings
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by John Rawlings »

This was SUCH an incredibly terrible event - within the space of a few moments things went from triumph to tragedy. When I received "the call" my wife could tell by the look on my face that the news was not good and she knew exactly what that meant. All she could do was squeeze my arm and mouth the word, "who?"

Our family's sorrow is profound for everyone that was involved that day and for all that loved Mark. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and with the divers who did their absolute best to save him.

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dwashbur
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by dwashbur »

That's awful. My prayers are with his family and friends.
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Matt S.
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Matt S. »

Penopolypants wrote:My heart goes out to his friends and family, and especially those who were with him when he passed. I'm glad to hear that he was surrounded by people who cared.
Yes, please spare a thought for the people at the scene... remember that even the boat crew is going to be hurting from this.

Josh and John, I am very glad you weren't there, though you may feel otherwise.
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spatman
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by spatman »

this has been a terrible year for diving accidents, and it pains me to hear that someone close to divers i consider good friends has been taken from us.

my condolences to everyone who knew Mark.
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LCF
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by LCF »

Deep and technical divers are not doing well this year.

I can't imagine the anguish of having known this gentleman. Every time I see a report like this, my first reaction is to check and see if it's somebody I know -- and then to feel guilty because I am relieved that it is not, as though people I don't know are somehow less to be missed.

If there is any lesson to be learned from this accident that will help other divers stay safer, Josh, I hope it gets made public. Otherwise, simply, my condolences.
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rjw
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by rjw »

I wish to thank everybody for all of the thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
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ArcticDiver
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by ArcticDiver »

It is such a simple statement but carrys with it deep feeling and compassion for my fellow humans and divers: Please accept my condolences.
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Maverick
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Maverick »

If there is any lesson to be learned from this accident that will help other divers stay safer, Josh, I hope it gets made public. Otherwise, simply, my condolences.

Lynn, I find this statement very feelingless and uncompassionate, If all you care is to learn a new skill set, then take you SIMPLE condolences somewhere else. You have no heart to say OTHERWISE in the same sentence you give condolence.

thank you to everyone else for your sweet and kind words.

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LCF
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by LCF »

BJ, I don't know what you read in what I wrote. What I was trying to say was that, if there was anything that would help make other people safer that would come out of telling the tale, I hoped we would hear about it, and then there would probably be further discussion. If not, I would just end my participation here by leaving my condolences. It was intended to be sympathetic and nice; I'm sorry it didn't come across to you that way.
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Tom Nic
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Tom Nic »

Thanks to everyone for their heartfelt and kind participation in this thread.

Let's try and keep things that way... please take an issue to PM or to the Mods if you feel a comment is inappropriate. Feelings are raw, let's be slow to react.
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Joshua Smith
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Re: Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by Joshua Smith »

Maverick wrote:If there is any lesson to be learned from this accident that will help other divers stay safer, Josh, I hope it gets made public. Otherwise, simply, my condolences.

Lynn, I find this statement very feelingless and uncompassionate, If all you care is to learn a new skill set, then take you SIMPLE condolences somewhere else. You have no heart to say OTHERWISE in the same sentence you give condolence.

thank you to everyone else for your sweet and kind words.

BJ
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ktb
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by ktb »

LCF wrote:I can't imagine the anguish of having known this gentleman. Every time I see a report like this, my first reaction is to check and see if it's somebody I know -- and then to feel guilty because I am relieved that it is not, as though people I don't know are somehow less to be missed.

If there is any lesson to be learned from this accident that will help other divers stay safer, Josh, I hope it gets made public. Otherwise, simply, my condolences.
Lynne--I want you to know that you expressed EXACTLY how I feel about this and every other diving death I hear about -- part relief, part guilt, part educational interest, and a whole hell of a lot of mourning for the loss of a fellow diver in this small community.

John, Josh, BJ, Rob and everyone else who knew Mark--I am so sorry for your loss.
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John Rawlings
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by John Rawlings »

As always, it seems, when dive accidents occur we are left spiraling in the grip of many unknowns. Like the vast majority of you, I wasn't there and have no real answers. Technical divers in particular know and understand the risks of deep diving and understand completely that with deeper depths the odds are stacked more and more against us surviving even a minor mishap or negative physical reaction. We accept that - it "goes with the territory". I wish that I knew the specific causes behind this terrible tragedy, but I don't.

Here's what I do know - Mark's dive buddies literally risked their own lives over and over again in their attempts to bring him safely to the surface from 350 FFW. They did so without hesitation. If they had been successful each and every one of us would be cheering and applauding an absolute miracle. They blew off several of their own deco stops and sacrificed their own deco and bail-out gasses in a desperate attempt to keep Mark alive as they ascended together, desperately doing whatever they could to save their friend. Have no doubt about it - until the very last moments of his life Mark was held by the hands of friendship.

Although I'm certain that they themselves would deny it, in my opinion their actions were absolutely heroic.

May each of us have such friends in our lives. They are blessings.

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dwashbur
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by dwashbur »

That's one thing I've noticed about divers in general: if you're in trouble, they will give EVERYTHING and more to help. I've never really found myself in that kind of situation, but I hope and pray that if I ever am, I'll have the backbone to give all I have the way these people did. Divers are truly a unique and cohesive family, and I consider it a huge privilege to be part of it, however small my contribution might be.
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Re: whidbey man died while diving

Post by coulterboy »

I can't help but extend my deepest condolences to the family of Mark and to his grieving friends. I have been reading this thread for a few days and my heart just want to say a few words. Now, I don't know the deceased, and neither do a lot of people on the board know me. But personally, I grieve to every person who passes away that has been posted on this board. The fact that I'm a diver makes me realize that it could be my name posted next time. I hope not.

On my other hobbies, I've had friends pass away doing what we loved to do. I don't criticize nor speculate what happened that disastrous moment. I just mourn for the loss. And if ever in the future, somebody wants to talk about it, then I listen. Listening is always a good virtue, more than anything else.

I am so sorry for this loss among our local dive community, and most importantly, I know, Mark was well known in other dive communities in other states as well. His reputation in his work precedes him highly.

Rest in peace, Mark.
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