SYDNEY, Australia (14 Jan 2002) -- A deep sea diver has been winched off the back of a boat into a helicopter and flown to hospital after nearly drowning off the coast of Sydney. The man was diving about six nautical miles off Cape Banks, the northern headland of Botany Bay in New South Wales, when he got into trouble just before 10:00am AEDT this morning. It is still unclear what went wrong, with the man unconscious when his fellow drivers pulled him from the water. But Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service spokesman Steven Leahy says the man had woken up by the time rescuers arrived. | | "He's in a serious condition after suffering from near-drowning, barotrauma and decompression sickness," Mr Leahy said. "The paramedics reported that he was bleeding from his mouth, that he was semi-conscious and certainly had lost feeling below the waist." The diver is in a serious but stable condition at the Prince of Wales Hospital. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
