UK (11 Aug 2006) -- Colleagues of diver Lesley Clark last night said lessons would be learned from her death. The 47-year-old, an experienced diver, died on Wednesday after she was swept out to sea when she and three companions got into difficulties at St Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay. Rescue teams found her after an hour, but she later died at North Tyneside Hospital. And last night Nick Barrett, treasurer at Hexham Sub Aqua Club, where Mrs Clark was a member, said they would support any changes in training which may arise from the incident. The British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) will now collate information from the accident and publish any findings in an annual report of diving incidents throughout the country. As part of this report BSAC also reviews its training programme, making any necessary changes. Mr Barrett, who joined the club 10 years ago and was trained by the mother-of-two said: "As a member of BSAC we will support any changes which are made as a result of this tragic accident. The review carried out by BSAC will be incorporated in any future training or advice and if there are lessons which can be learned then we will do it. "I don't know enough about the incident to be able to comment on whether it was preventable or not, those details will undoubtedly come out in due course." Mr Barrett said Mrs Clark, of Greenacres Close, Crawcrook, Gateshead, was an advanced diver and regularly helped with the clubs annual training sessions. Jim Watson, BSAC safety and development manager, said: "We collate information on incidents throughout the UK and publish them in an annual incident report. The objective of this is to put key information forward so other divers can learn from these incidents." | | Mother-of-two Lesley Clark died scuba diving in Whitley Bay. Despite BSAC's feel-good pronouncements about their annual accident report, scuba diving accidents are increasing and some independent dive safety experts have accused BSAC, DAN and other dive industry groups, which boast about their global networks, of deliberately deceiving the public about the full extent of scuba diving risks due to territorial marketing agreements and regionalism. Richard Stewart, of Humber Coastguard, last night (FRI) urged people to take care when crossing at St Mary's Lighthouse and to check tide times. "This was not a diving related accident but was about someone getting caught by the rip tide. "We would urge anyone who wants to cross at St Mary's Lighthouse to check the crossing times before leaving. We want people to enjoy themselves in the sea but they must take precautions." SOURCE - The JournalSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
