TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (21 Apr 2007) -- Pressurized air that swelled in Zachary Moore's body as he ascended from the bottom of a University of Alabama pool without exhaling caused the death of the Baldwin County 21-year-old, officials said Friday. "It is a very sad, unfortunate accident," said Dr. Stephen Boudreau, a senior medical examiner for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Montgomery. "It just happened." Moore lost consciousness at about 2 p.m. Tuesday while participating in a college beginner scuba diving class drill at UA's Aquatic Center, said Capt. Loyd Baker, commander of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit -- responsible for investigating accidental deaths in that area. "He was pulled from the pool, resuscitation attempts were made and he was transported to the hospital," Baker said. While officials at DCH Regional Medical Center pronounced Moore dead at 2:45 p.m., he had died almost instantly following the accident, officials said. The drill involved taking off scuba equipment at the bottom of the 18-foot-deep pool, and coming up without it, Baker said. Moore inhaled pressurized air from his equipment while he descended, officials said. When he ascended without the equipment, he didn't exhale, causing pressurized air to expand within his lungs and body, affecting all of his vital organs, Boudreau said. Generally, when people incur that type of injury -- called barotrauma -- little can be done to resuscitate them, Boudreau said. Earlier this week Moore's friends described the pre-business UA major with a low, distinct chuckle as someone they could turn to when they needed a dependable friend, a nonjudgmental ear or an escape from a bad day. | | "He was the kind of guy that you would want to go to if you didn't feel comfortable talking to other people," said Jared Saltz, 21, who graduated from Fairhope with Moore. Others who knew Moore said he was self-motivated and a hard worker. "Zach was an overachiever," said Mark Lasseter, Fairhope High's head football coach. "He was a kid that I admired a great deal." Moore planned to attend officer candidate school for the U.S. Marine Corps over the summer to fulfill a goal of becoming a captain in the military, friends said. He planned to graduate from Alabama in the spring of 2008 and then join the Marines, they said. Moore's family will receive friends at Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home in Fairhope from 5 to 8 p.m. today. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Sunday in the funeral home's chapel. Interment will be in Memory Gardens of Fairhope. The family suggests that memorials be made to the Zachary A. Moore Memorial Scholarship Fund at any Wachovia Bank. Moore is survived by his parents, Chris and Melanie Moore of Bay Minette; a sister, Courtney Moore of Mobile; maternal grandparents, Dennis and Sue Norton of Eight Mile; and paternal grandparents, Dwight Moore and Dorothy McWhirter, both of Mobile. SOURCE - Press-RegisterSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
