TITLOW BEACH ACCIDENT - AUGUST 11 - PLEASE HELP

[CoralSea]

A SCUBA diver was pulled from the water adjacent to Titlow Beach on August 11. A news report was carried by KIRO that day, but no further information was ever provided by them. http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/rescuer ... /421619119

The diver in this case, Therese Schick Knowles, never regained consciousness and died in St. Joseph's about a week later.

I was friends with Terry since elementary school, some 49 years. She came to Australia where I now live, and spent a week on a live-aboard on the Great Barrier Reef a couple years ago. She was a 30+ year Special Education teacher at the Clover Park school district.

There are lots of unanswered questions about this "accident", especially since Terry had been diving in the Puget Sound for some 20 years. There is a huge conflict between the police report and her "dive buddy" about whether or not Terry was wearing a buoyancy compensator. Terry owned a BC and since she was dry suit certified she was well aware of the need for this equipment. Not only is this fact in contention, if she WAS wearing it, why did it not function as intended? The reports from the scene indicate that she was first spotted "fins out" of the water.

I've attempted to determine what dive shop she was affiliated with because she wasn't filling her own tanks. Everyone seems to be shut-down on where she was going for support.

Pierce County Medical Examiner Clark (tclark@co.pierce.wa.us) seems to be content to put this into the "never mind" pile instead of fulfilling their charter which says "The public deserves to know what hazards and events are causing sudden and unnatural deaths in their communities”.

There were dozens of people nearby when the accident first was reported and I would guess someone with photos or video on the smartphones.

It's important to determine what exactly went wrong, for the good of the community as well as her friends and family.

[Ryan Nelson]

Sorry for your loss. I wasn't there and therefore have no explanation. One thing that I will say is that the community here in the PNW for some reason doesn't ever elaborate on diving accidents like other communities do for instance in California. This bothers me for the simple fact there can likely be somethimg learned from each accident, and as you stated it's owed to the community to prevent further accidents.

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[YellowEye]

Very sorry to hear this! :(

I would say don't rely on the police or the news media to provide an accurate report in these situations... They don't have expertise in that area. Also, it is unlikely any beach goers or even the dive buddy could really fully know what happened. Most investigations are speculative. DAN attempts to document some accidents for others to learn from, usually they're from survivors. I've never hear of a "fin's up" situation... assuming indeed that did happen.

As a long time diver, she may not have a direct shop affiliation.

Very sorry for all involved.

[CaptnJack]

There were dozens of people nearby when the accident first was reported and I would guess someone with photos or video on the smartphones.

It's important to determine what exactly went wrong, for the good of the community as well as her friends and family.

Its unlikely any of us were there or this would have been discussed more extensively here already. Its surprisingly difficult to determine a diver death because they usually drown after some triggering event. Unless someone where there underwater is pretty challenging to determine the triggering event. Stroke, heart attacks, and panic can all lead to drowning.

Sorry that no one is able to provide the closure you seek.

[H20doctor]

it all comes down to evidence , and the facts, and in most diving accidents there isnt enough.. we do talk about diving accidents here , if it involves someone we all know , one of the big problems of the internet is if people give out information , they can be sued or liable ... very sad to hear of a diver passing , there was another incident at the alki coves last month ?
the other problem with discussing these topics is that they often go side ways and become very heated and then turn into a flame wars, this is fairly common on scubaBoard.. since you live over in australia its going to be difficult for you to find answers .. good luck