PORT CANAVERAL, Florida (17 Jan 2007) -- A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescued a 48-year-old male scuba diver suffering from decompression sickness after he surfaced from a 40-meter (130-feet) deep dive. Jerry Foley, 48, was taken to Florida Hospital in Orlando where he received treatment for the bends in a decompression chamber. According to Coast Guard officials, the skipper of the Down Easter II called for help at about noon on Tuesday. The captain told the Coast Guard that a diver aboard the vessel had surfaced with symptoms of decompression sickness including difficulty breathing and nausea, and that the vessel's engine had stalled. The Coast Guard deployed a rescue boat based in Port Canaveral and scrambled a rescue helicopter based in Jacksonville. The Down Easter II was located about 26 miles east-southeast of Port Canaveral when it called for help. | | Two Coast Guard Dolphin choppers, a C-130 and rescue boats are searching for missing diver Mitchel Hodgson. Foley was treated on Tuesday evening, kept overnight for observation and released on Wednesday. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
