TRUESTORIES
Rescue and recompression
I made my way through the clouds of silt welling from the cave , where eventually I found Linden , still guarding the entrance , but by now extremely short of air . She helped me tie one end of the line around a rock nearby , and then had to leave .
I started to make my way into the cave . There was nothing to be seen through my mask but impenetrable silt and blackness . The line ran out through my left hand and my right was waving up and down in front of me , searching for Ron . The new cylinder , that I was now breathing from , was floating away , only attached by the tubes and mouthpiece that I was biting into . Suddenly , my right hand collided with something firm but soft and I felt an ankle in the blackness .
I began to back out along the line towing Ron , who I could not yet see . My high breathing rate did not help . l had a moment when I had the terrifying feeling that I was going the wrong way along the line and would come to the rope ’ s end in the darkness . At last , light began to appear and I saw , to my horror , that Ron ’ s mask was off and he had no sign of life in his eyes . He still had the Fenzy mouthpiece in place , though . He was , in fact , semi-conscious .
I tried to inflate his jacket but it was , of course , empty . I dropped both our weightbelts , and swam him upwards , checking that he was exhaling as we neared the surface . The boat was moored out of sight around the comer in the Grotte des Pigeons . I leant over Ron and blew into his mouth . To my delight , he began to groan and gasp for air . There was a horrible rattling in his throat , but to me it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard .
I removed and dropped our cylinders and began to push him along the surface . He was blind and barely conscious . As he began to breathe , a narrow tunnel of vision appeared . It widened and he saw the sea and sun again . Back on the diving ladder , he finally regained full consciousness . I asked
Reg was among the first wave of BSAC members ( left ), and went on to work with Club Mediterranean ( right )
him if he thought he could go down again to decompress . He nodded . We hovered under the boat at depths of 30 , 20 and then 10 feet , hoping that no symptoms of decompression sickness would appear . Back in the boat again , we set course for home .
I was still worried about the length of time we had spent below , so we took two cylinders from the compressor house and moved offshore again . Ron was sick from the water he had swallowed , and was also suffering from diarrhoea , but had no more serious symptoms . We decompressed again . By this time , I had a slight ache in my left knee . We returned to the boat and a doctor insisted on giving me an injection against shock . After half an hour or so , the pain had got slightly worse in my knee . Ron ’ s only symptom was a ‘ catch ’ in his breathing and some air in his stomach .
After seven hours my pain was lessening . Ron was fine . It had been the worst few hours of my life and the closest I had been to losing a diver . It had taught me several lessons that I would not forget .
I was diving again the next day , and Ron and Linden the day after . We were all thankful to be alive . Ron said that he had been sure that we would get him out . They later joked that they had been trying for a family for some years without success , but after Zembra they had no problem in producing one . We have been friends ever since . �
Reg ( right ) with guests at Zembra Island
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