I excused myself from the class and using the dive shop’s telephone I called Karen. She informed me that the Leon County Sherriff’s Department had called our home. An accident had occurred at Little Dismal Sink and the victim was Bill McFaden. I was stunned. I was very aware that Parker Turner, Bill Main, Bill Gavin and Bill McFaden were conducting the last survey dive of this Little Dismal Sink mapping project. Not knowing anything that occurred, I was mystified in how an accident could occur when some of the finest cave divers in the world were involved. Hell…that is “why” Bill Gavin and Bill Main were asked to join the survey project to ensure that nothing would go wrong with these cave dives.
I returned to my class as the students had finished their exams. I explained what had occurred in Tallahassee and that I had to quickly leave. We graded the tests, completed the final paperwork and I issued temporary cards. I said my goodbyes to the students, Arwyn and Jan Carr and several customers at the dive store. I loaded my pickup truck with a “full” set of 104’s steel double tanks along with my black Labrador retriever Largo and was on the road.
The drive back to my house that was located six miles east of Tallahassee usually takes about 100 minutes. My thoughts centered on the “what happened” with this dive and how it could happen. With no answers, all I could do was drive home and gather a few items and get down to Little Dismal Sink that is located west of U.S. 319 or known as Crawfordville Road near the southern border of Leon County.
Arriving at Little Dismal Sink around 6:45 P.M. there were members of the Leon County Sheriff’s Department Captain Ken McDonald, Auxiliary Officer Terry Coughlin and members of their dive team Buddy Grose and Mike Sasnett. John Malik would show up later. Bill Gavin was sitting in the front seat of his van drinking quart after quart of Gatorade hydrating himself and breathing oxygen from his oxygen bottle. Bill got tagged with the bends, probably more from the stress of the accident than the actual dive itself. He was feeling quite better by the time he exited the water and shortly before I arrived. Bill was a big advocate of drinking plenty of water or Gatorade before and after deep dives, and this situation was a shining example.