VENTURA COUNTY, California (21 Oct 2003) -- Nicholas Armington, a 41-year-old San Rafael filmmaker who died while scuba diving around Anacapa Island near Ventura, probably fell unconscious in the water due to a medical problem that was not related to diving, the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday. While diving Saturday afternoon, Armington surfaced waving his arms and giving a distress signal. But the problem - perhaps an arrhythmia - could not be identified in an autopsy, said Senior Deputy Medical Examiner Armando Chavez. Armington was unresponsive and face-down in the water when rescue divers reached him. Armington died of asphyxiation due to drowning, Chavez said. Rescue divers and paramedics from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department tried to revive him. Armington's equipment was in working order, and a diving computer he had with him showed his ascent to the surface was not too fast, Chavez said. | | Armington, an experienced diver, was a keyboard player and composer, and with his wife, Sari, produced marketing videos and public television documentaries. Earlier this year, "The Plunge: Time Laps Through History" aired on KQED and was well-received. SOURCE - SF Chronicle |
