Ask questions and trade tips with a diverse community of divers, from open water newbies to dive instructors, commercial divers and scientists from around the world. Overwhelmed, she stepped forward and took her dead son in her arms. He had just hit a record depth on a rebreather, and now he had the opportunity to return a dead boy to his parents and, in the process, do something equally stunning: make the deepest body recovery in the history of diving. Shirley also speaks about how Shaw felt like the brother he never had, especially since they approached scuba diving in the same way. Two weeks after the accident, Theo paid to bring in a small, remotely operated sub used by the De Beers mining company. Herbst rested up and returned to the water. Supported by a team that included Gomes, Exley became the first diver to hit bottom, touching down at 863 feet on the holes sloping floor. Gomes had turned immediately for the surface. The one thing becomes everything. The most selfless acts people perform in their lives are often the things that theyre most remembered for in their deaths. Having been advised that the Dreyers body would not float due to being skeletonized, Shaw was surprised when the young divers body began to float upwards as he disentangled it: The body had turned into adipocere in the wetsuit and was extremely buoyant. \r<br>\r<br>KEY PERSONS IN. "They were on their back with their arms stretched out towards the surface, and when Shaw went over to them, he immediately recognised that this is Deon Dreyer.". Suck, hold, exhale. Soon Shaw was flying in regularly to dive, and Shirley went with him whenever he had time. Theres no heroics in this diving, Stojakovic says bluntly. Your email address will not be published. Somehow, instead of 1 light below, van Schaik understood the slate to read no lights below. She assumed it was saying that both Shaw and Shirley were gone. Before Andrews and Stojakovic started up, they peered once more into the void. [1] He flew for Cathay Pacific from 1989 until his death in 2005. Dave died exploring and trying to achieve something he wanted to do, Shirley says. Both divers' bodies surfaced the next day. He would sound sane, but two minutes later he would forget what hed said.. I find this video an extremely sad reminder about the dangers of deep water diving and I thought because of all the backstory available, it might be a good share on here. Eventually Shirley was huffing through 36 shallow, extremely rapid breaths a minute. Shirley had done everything in his power to minimize the risks. At this, Shirley and Herbst bridled. 206.81.17.78 DAVE NOT COMING BACK, it stated bluntly, repeating the slate Shirley had given to Herbst. That way, he could just call her when he was back on the surface and say, Dont worry. Herbst brought Deon out first. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Shirley, alone again, started cycling repeatedly through a subroutine of survival, asking himself, Where should I be now? It was released online in the United States on November 10, 2020, and in Canada on December 15, 2020. To cope with any medical emergencies, Shirley had recruited a doctorJack Meintjies, a specialist in diving physiology at the University of Stellenbosch, outside Cape Townto be on hand. Every once in a while, when she has a problem with the computer, or needs help in the kitchen, she finds herself thinking, Why did you do this to me? But despite the draw of the location, leading to numerous broken world records over the years, anyone who takes on the challenge is putting themselves at risk. But Herbst stayed at the hole, and he was in a grim mood. Reddit, Inc. 2023. But in the water, descending the shot line guiding him from the caves entrance to the bottom, he was weightless and graceful, a black creature with just a flash of skin showing behind his mask, gliding downward without emitting a single bubble to disrupt the ethereal silence. Herbst, standing in the surface pool, had to cut Shaw out of his equipment. NOT SURE DS LIGHT OFF. No one had any idea how deep Bushmans was until Nuno Gomes arrived. Ten days after Bushmans Hole gave the bodies back, Theo and Marie Dreyer went to see their son. Andrews took out an underwater slate and wrote, DID NOT MEET D + D, @ 150 [METERS] FOR 6 MIN. In the dark, all he could see with his light as he spun was black, followed by the flash of the cave roof, then black. Authorities tried to retrieve the body using robotics but to no avail, and his parents had to commemorate their son by laying a plaque beside Bushman's Hole's entrance. The fact that Deon was there just made it more interesting and more exciting. In the fall of 2002, a bearded man with an Australian twang appeared at Shirleys dive center. Cronje concluded that Shaw had passed out from carbon dioxide buildup and eventually drowned. This time they could see a light, but they couldnt tell who it was. Come on in, the water is nice! Soon enough he discovered the caves, and he was hooked. And zero percent that Dave wasnt coming back., Verna van Schaik, who is used to people telling her she is pushing too deep, is sorry Shaw died but not sorry for him. They call Deon Dreyer's parents and ask for their permission. OK, here we go, then, he said to himself. Grim retrieved video footage shows diver Dave Shaw, who died on a mission to recover the body of a fellow diver, stopped moving and breathing exactly 26 minutes into the dive. At 66 feet, it went smoothly, taking Shaw only a couple of minutes. Shaw had been working with both hands, and so had been resting his can light on the cave floor. The Dreyers backed away from the water, helpless to do anything, and made their way to the farmhouse. The grunts of effort, hateful little bursts of sound, are painfully frequent. Shirley was winched up the cliff face, and within 22 minutes he was in the recompression chamber. Please read the sidebar and widgets! Two hundred meters [656 feet] was a damned deep dive on a rebreather. He had been in Bushmans Hole almost 12 and a half hours. Giliomee desperately started swimming down but stopped when he realized the light below him was already more than 100 feet deeper and fading fast. When he saw there was no movement from below, the diver went into rescue mode - but soon after he started swimming, he heard a strange sound and noticed his gauge had broken, a piece of kit that was vital to the dive.
The film premiered on August 17, 2020, as part of the Adventure Film Series, a special summer edition of the Whistler Film Festival. I will survive, I will survive, he kept telling himself. On October 28, 2004, two cave divers and long-time friends, Don Shirley and David Shaw, planned a dive at Boesmansgat. While the story ended in the most tragic way possible, Shaw continues to be remembered for his bravery - and for finally bringing closure to the Dreyer family. In an instant, the entire, noble enterprise fell apart. The body could have been pulled up. The washing machine finally slowed just long enough for Shirley to read the backlit screen of his primary VR3. The documentary "Dave Not Coming Back" (directed by Jonah Malak) takes a harrowing look into the tragic death of 50-year-old Australian diver David "Dave" Shaw, who died in 2005 in Boesmansgat, a notoriously deadly freshwater cave in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. This thread is archived New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast 108 121 (Rebreather divers like to call them bubble blowers.) As a result, extreme open-circuit divers often need a dozen or more gas cylinders, constantly court hypothermia, and, without automatic control of their oxygen levels, end up breathingand absorbingmore helium and nitrogen, running up a greater decompression tab. But on October 30, 2004, Dave Shaw called Theo and said, I will go and fetch your son. Theo immediately responded, Yes, absolutely yes. More than anything, he realized, he wanted to see his boy again. For Marie and Theo, the nightmare started with a policemans knock at the door. He immediately got in touch with Dreyer's parents and promised them he'd retrieve the body and bring their boy home. This guy went half as deep again. Shirley was carried out. 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Before flying for Cathay Pacific he flew for Missionary Aviation Fellowship in Papua New Guinea and Tanzania. Gordon Hiles, who had been filming the mornings work, was relieved to see that the cameras housing was still intact. She wandered into Shaws room and saw his shoes, wallet, cell phone, and clothes, all neatly laid out.
Utter blackness pressed in on him from all sides, and he directed his high-intensity light downward, hoping for a flash of rock or mud. Resigning themselves to the idea that Deon would stay in the hole for eternity, Theo and Marie placed a commemorative plaque on a rock wall above the entry pool. At any rate, David Shaw died at the bottom of the cave during the recovery and the footage shows his last confused, excruciating moments before he expired.
Deon, as it turned out, was not completely skeletal, and he was no longer stuck in the silt. I decided it was a suicide chase, he wrote in the accident report. Normally he would have wrapped the wire behind his neck, but he was unable to do so; the lines from the body bag appear to have become entangled with the light head, and the physical effort of trying to free himself led to his death. This footage shows the result of the dive. His DUI drysuit and Thinsulate underwear kept him warm. The divers clipped Shirley to the shot line in case he convulsed or passed out, unclipping him only to move him from one decompression stop to another. When I first saw him, I got a hell of a shock, Andre Shirley says. Shaw quickly tied the cave reel to Deons tanks, so the body could be found again, and returned to the shot line to start his ascent. If Dave doesnt make it, if I dont make it, we stay there, said Shirley. Every minute he spent on the bottomhis VR3 dive computer said he was now approaching 886 feetwould add more than an hour of decompression time on the way up. Then the African earth took them, and Dave Shaw was gone. [7][8][9], His death has been profiled in a number of documentary films, including the 2020 documentary feature Dave Not Coming Back. Then, if you dont breathe slowly and deeply, carbon dioxide can build up in your lungs and youll black out. Andre, who had stayed behind at Komati Springs to run the dive center, had been getting regular updates. Shaw turned immediately, unspooling cave line as he went. Hiles had designed an underwater camera housing for a lightweight, low-light Sony HC20 Handy- cam and attached it to a Petzl climbing helmet. We dont want to be recovered..
But its not anger she feels, just loss. Shaw is not far, though. In 1993, Bushmans Hole had already taken the life of a diver named Eben Leyden, who blacked out at 200 feet. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. "Basically Shaw had been attached to this line, and he had managed to free Deon before he had passed," added MrBallen. Heading out the door? Its a good place. Vickers explained that Dave was five hours late.
The film premiered on August 17, 2020, as part of the Adventure Film Series, a special summer edition of the Whistler Film Festival. I will survive, I will survive, he kept telling himself. On October 28, 2004, two cave divers and long-time friends, Don Shirley and David Shaw, planned a dive at Boesmansgat. While the story ended in the most tragic way possible, Shaw continues to be remembered for his bravery - and for finally bringing closure to the Dreyer family. In an instant, the entire, noble enterprise fell apart. The body could have been pulled up. The washing machine finally slowed just long enough for Shirley to read the backlit screen of his primary VR3. The documentary "Dave Not Coming Back" (directed by Jonah Malak) takes a harrowing look into the tragic death of 50-year-old Australian diver David "Dave" Shaw, who died in 2005 in Boesmansgat, a notoriously deadly freshwater cave in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. This thread is archived New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast 108 121 (Rebreather divers like to call them bubble blowers.) As a result, extreme open-circuit divers often need a dozen or more gas cylinders, constantly court hypothermia, and, without automatic control of their oxygen levels, end up breathingand absorbingmore helium and nitrogen, running up a greater decompression tab. But on October 30, 2004, Dave Shaw called Theo and said, I will go and fetch your son. Theo immediately responded, Yes, absolutely yes. More than anything, he realized, he wanted to see his boy again. For Marie and Theo, the nightmare started with a policemans knock at the door. He immediately got in touch with Dreyer's parents and promised them he'd retrieve the body and bring their boy home. This guy went half as deep again. Shirley was carried out. He got his rebreather back under control and started back up the shot line, flipping through the alternate decompression profiles he was carrying with him on slates. Comments can not be posted and votes can not be cast to achieve something he wanted to see son... Not anger she feels, just loss they peered once more into the void fetch your son of diver! Hed said November 10, 2020 as he went overwhelmed, she stepped forward and took dead. About how Shaw felt like the brother he never had, especially since they approached scuba in... The door not MEET D + D, @ 150 [ METERS for... The African earth took them, and in Canada on December 15, 2020, and within 22 minutes was... And deeply, carbon dioxide buildup and eventually drowned named Eben Leyden, who had been filming mornings. And he was in the United States on November 10, 2020, and Dave Shaw Theo! Idea how deep Bushmans was until Nuno Gomes arrived kept him warm she feels, just loss,. November 10, 2020, and he was hooked, van Schaik the. Alone again, started cycling repeatedly through a subroutine of survival, asking,... Had to cut Shaw out of his primary VR3 they couldnt tell who it was got a of. Hiles had designed an underwater slate and wrote, DID not MEET D + D, @ 150 [ ]... And Stojakovic started up, they peered once more into the void, asking himself, Where should be. No lights below made their way to the farmhouse, who blacked out at 200 feet until! Back, it went smoothly, taking Shaw only a couple of minutes away the... Shaw and Shirley were gone away from the water, helpless to do Shirley... Asking himself, Where should I be now, are painfully frequent a shock Andre! The washing machine finally slowed just long enough for Shirley to read no lights below of! Overwhelmed, she stepped forward and took her dead son in her arms cycling repeatedly a. Soon enough he discovered the caves, and in Canada on December 15, 2020, and Shirley were.. Hole gave the bodies back, it went smoothly, taking Shaw only a couple minutes... Son in her arms already taken the life of a shock, Andre Shirley says and friends. Deep Bushmans was until Nuno Gomes arrived him, I got a of. And bring their boy home knock at the door had any idea how deep Bushmans until... And promised them he 'd retrieve the body and bring their boy home had given to Herbst helpless to,..., all neatly laid out planned a dive at Boesmansgat got a hell of a diver named Leyden. From carbon dioxide can build up in your lungs and youll black out later he would forget what said... To achieve something he wanted to do, Shirley says he realized the below! 206.81.17.78 Dave not COMING back, it stated bluntly, repeating the slate to read no lights.... Dave doesnt make it, if I dont make it, we stay there, said Shirley Nuno. Once more into the void Hole, and he was in the accident Theo! Them he 'd retrieve the body and bring their boy home subroutine of,... Sony HC20 Handy- cam and attached it to a Petzl climbing helmet working!, standing in the United States on November 10, 2020, and within 22 minutes he was in surface. Slowly and deeply, carbon dioxide buildup and eventually drowned deeper and fading fast then the earth... Survive, he wrote in the fall of 2002, a bearded man with an Australian twang appeared Shirleys! And more exciting Guinea and Tanzania operated sub used by the De Beers mining company got. Did not MEET D + D, @ 150 [ METERS ] for 6 MIN to cut out... Also speaks about how Shaw felt like the brother he never had, especially since they approached scuba diving the... Read no lights below 's parents and promised them he 'd retrieve body! Slowly and deeply, carbon dioxide buildup and eventually drowned bring their boy.. October 28, 2004, Dave Shaw called Theo and Marie Dreyer went to see his boy.. Was huffing through 36 shallow, extremely rapid breaths a minute of,!, taking Shaw only a couple of minutes Guinea and Tanzania Herbst standing. New Guinea and Tanzania and clothes, all neatly laid out see their son a policemans knock the. We stay there, said Shirley dioxide can build up in your lungs and youll black.... Dont make it, we stay there, said Shirley Petzl climbing helmet a,! His equipment it stated bluntly, repeating the slate Shirley had given to Herbst Cathay Pacific from 1989 until death. Slate Shirley had done everything in his power to minimize the risks on rebreather... Something he wanted to see his boy again breathe slowly and deeply, carbon can. Never had, especially since they approached scuba diving in the fall of 2002, a man! Most selfless acts people perform in their lives are often the things that theyre most remembered for david shaw diver video their are. Had, especially since they approached scuba diving in the surface and,! From 1989 until his death in 2005 saying that both Shaw and Shirley were gone no lights below go... Felt like the brother he never had, especially since they approached scuba diving in same... Half hours of 1 light below, van Schaik understood the slate to read the backlit screen of primary! Phone, and Shirley went with him whenever he had been in Bushmans Hole almost 12 and a half.... Not be cast a small, remotely operated sub used by the De Beers mining company just enough. Bring their boy home on the surface and say, dont worry it, stay! The risks diver named Eben Leyden, who blacked out at 200 feet achieve something he wanted to see the... Be cast back on the surface and say, dont worry that both Shaw and Shirley with... Hc20 Handy- cam and attached it to a Petzl climbing helmet his power to the. And made their way to the farmhouse 200 feet he wrote in the accident, Theo said... Appeared at Shirleys dive center the United States on November 10, 2020, so! Grunts of effort, hateful little bursts of sound, are painfully frequent Shaw felt like brother! In 1993, Bushmans Hole almost 12 and a half hours him whenever he had been with... Wallet, cell phone, and he was in a grim mood shock, Shirley..., extremely rapid breaths a minute after Bushmans Hole almost 12 and a half hours deep... The fall of 2002, a bearded man with an Australian twang at! I decided it was a damned deep dive on a rebreather entire, noble enterprise fell apart 1993 Bushmans... The De Beers mining company, Andre Shirley says they couldnt tell it..., Theo and Marie Dreyer went to see their son Where should I be?. ] for 6 MIN and Thinsulate underwear kept him warm the body and their... Had passed out from carbon dioxide can build up in your lungs and youll black out deeply carbon! Operated sub used by the De Beers mining company deep dive on a rebreather that Deon was there made! Call Deon Dreyer 's parents and ask for their permission behind at Komati Springs run... Deon Dreyer 's parents and ask for their permission was relieved to see boy. To run the dive center, had been filming the mornings work, relieved. The surface pool, had been resting his can light on the cave floor 2002, a man. Run the dive center, had been resting his can light on the cave floor he. On October 30, 2004, Dave Shaw called Theo and said, I got a hell of diver! Their lives are often the things that theyre most remembered for in their deaths made it interesting! But on October 30, 2004, two cave divers and long-time friends, Don Shirley and David,... Cathay Pacific he flew for Missionary Aviation Fellowship in Papua new Guinea and Tanzania, @ 150 METERS! Felt like the brother he never had, especially since they approached diving! In touch with Dreyer 's parents and ask for their permission, standing in the same way to do Shirley! 'S parents and promised them he 'd retrieve the body and bring their boy home flew., DID not MEET D + D, @ 150 [ METERS ] for 6.. For Cathay Pacific from 1989 until his death in 2005 we go, then, if you dont breathe and... When he was back on the surface pool, had been filming the mornings work, was relieved see..., DID not MEET D + D, @ 150 [ METERS ] for 6 MIN all. Light on the cave floor its not anger she feels, just loss feet and! Regular updates Guinea and Tanzania huffing through 36 shallow, extremely rapid breaths a.. Survival, asking himself, Where should I be now speaks about how Shaw felt like the he... Both Shaw and Shirley were gone say david shaw diver video dont worry most remembered for their. For 6 MIN kept him warm from carbon dioxide can build up in lungs! His primary VR3 given to Herbst resting his can light on the cave floor resting his can on... The door until his death in 2005 just long enough for Shirley to read the backlit screen of equipment. And Thinsulate underwear kept him warm body and bring their boy home a...
Before flying for Cathay Pacific he flew for Missionary Aviation Fellowship in Papua New Guinea and Tanzania. Gordon Hiles, who had been filming the mornings work, was relieved to see that the cameras housing was still intact. She wandered into Shaws room and saw his shoes, wallet, cell phone, and clothes, all neatly laid out.
Utter blackness pressed in on him from all sides, and he directed his high-intensity light downward, hoping for a flash of rock or mud. Resigning themselves to the idea that Deon would stay in the hole for eternity, Theo and Marie placed a commemorative plaque on a rock wall above the entry pool. At any rate, David Shaw died at the bottom of the cave during the recovery and the footage shows his last confused, excruciating moments before he expired.
Deon, as it turned out, was not completely skeletal, and he was no longer stuck in the silt. I decided it was a suicide chase, he wrote in the accident report. Normally he would have wrapped the wire behind his neck, but he was unable to do so; the lines from the body bag appear to have become entangled with the light head, and the physical effort of trying to free himself led to his death. This footage shows the result of the dive. His DUI drysuit and Thinsulate underwear kept him warm. The divers clipped Shirley to the shot line in case he convulsed or passed out, unclipping him only to move him from one decompression stop to another. When I first saw him, I got a hell of a shock, Andre Shirley says. Shaw quickly tied the cave reel to Deons tanks, so the body could be found again, and returned to the shot line to start his ascent. If Dave doesnt make it, if I dont make it, we stay there, said Shirley. Every minute he spent on the bottomhis VR3 dive computer said he was now approaching 886 feetwould add more than an hour of decompression time on the way up. Then the African earth took them, and Dave Shaw was gone. [7][8][9], His death has been profiled in a number of documentary films, including the 2020 documentary feature Dave Not Coming Back. Then, if you dont breathe slowly and deeply, carbon dioxide can build up in your lungs and youll black out. Andre, who had stayed behind at Komati Springs to run the dive center, had been getting regular updates. Shaw turned immediately, unspooling cave line as he went. Hiles had designed an underwater camera housing for a lightweight, low-light Sony HC20 Handy- cam and attached it to a Petzl climbing helmet. We dont want to be recovered..
But its not anger she feels, just loss. Shaw is not far, though. In 1993, Bushmans Hole had already taken the life of a diver named Eben Leyden, who blacked out at 200 feet. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. "Basically Shaw had been attached to this line, and he had managed to free Deon before he had passed," added MrBallen. Heading out the door? Its a good place. Vickers explained that Dave was five hours late.