I cannot remember exactly what I said or how I said it but I made it very clear. When someone signals the “out-of-air” signal to a dive team member, your immediate response is to give that person air from your long hose second stage regulator and then assist them in any way to the surface. In an open water scenario, it should be a simple undertaking. Because this case was in a cave at a depth of 200 feet and more than 800 feet from the cave exit and everyone beyond their thirds when the shit hits the fan, there is no time to start second guessing the situation. You respond to the task the way you were trained for this emergency. The only person to blame was Bill McFaden himself. I reminded both Gavin and Main they were asked to help out McFaden as he wanted to get this little bit more information for the map.
There was a Memorial service conducted at a local church at Crawfordville, Florida, on Wednesday, November 18, 1988. Milledge Murphey of Gainesville, Florida and the Training Director for the NACD volunteered to give the eulogies for the service. All of us attended. Bill Gavin, myself, Bill Main, Parker Turner and several other members of the cave diving community. It is one of the very few services I have ever attended in my life. I do not consider myself a very emotional person or a believer in religion, but this time, I proved to myself that I was “really” human as I cried during the service.
Bill’s parents were elderly and in their mid-70’s. I met them and offered my sincere condolences. I was surprised but impressed with the many people from the area who attended the service and the funeral procession to the cemetery located on the east side of Crawfordville. The line of vehicles in the procession was immense. The grief that was expressed during the Memorial ceremonies and the funeral was way beyond my comprehension of reality. Bill was definitely very much loved by his family and friends. It was a challenging day for everyone.
My concern was how the cave diving community would perceive this accident. It is easy to look at this dive with hindsight and ask many “what if” questions. This accident occurring in 1988 and the cave diving community was much less than 2016. Today, with the many new ways to communicate with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the several chat rooms that exist it is an entirely different animal. I have already seen several accidents get butchered on the Internet during the past 15 years.