A bad weekend: death through misadventure

[shibumiseeker]

I define a misadventure as something that you do that turns out bad, that you could have avoided.

I was on a body recovery this weekend for two young men who tried rappelling in a waterfall in a cave:
RN-T.com - 2 Florida students found dead in Walker County cave

I was at a rescue board meeting there when the call came out. Initially we were expecting to just have to help them climb back up. I found them hanging from their ropes on a ledge 40' above the bottom. We got them to the the bottom in about 10 minutes, a very fast time.

These kids (18 and 20) were not ready for the environment they were in. One got in trouble and the second one tried to go and help him. When I am teaching vertical work I stress repeatedly that just because you can learn to rappel and climb a rope in about 10 minutes and you'll probably be fine 90% of the time, the biggest danger is that it takes a lot longer to learn how to avoid getting into trouble and even longer to learn how to get yourself out of trouble. Yeah, it's an awesome rush to rappel down a cliff or pit, but most people are taught by people who have no real clue as to what they are doing, and then will never put the time to learn how to do it properly. I can take a novice and get them a chance to do some cool stuff, but then when they go to the hardware store for rope or order it from a climbing catalogue and try to do it on their own they are taking their lives into their own hands because what they ignore is the fact that I was standing there ready to get them out of trouble, and then when they take what little they know and try to teach someone else, it's a recipe for tragedy. I've seen it over and again.

This is true of just about every technical skill that can get you injured or killed if you do them improperly, yet only a few percent of people will take the time and effort to learn them beyond the bare minimum basics, and then many will consider themselves experts because they have mad skillz most people don't have.

RIP kids. Most of us are lucky to survive our own misadventures. Sometimes we don't.

 

[abnk]

Sorry to hear that. Why were they stuck?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Sorry to hear that. Why were they stuck?

Because it takes about 5-10 minutes in a cold waterfall for your hands to stop following commands from your brain, and shortly thereafter for your brain to stop being able to issue rational commands. The first guy did not have a long enough rope to reach the bottom so he tried to climb back up but could not due to the torrent of water pounding on him. He could not convey his problem to the folks 60' above him because it's like trying to talk while standing next to a freight train roaring by on bad track, and they could not see him, just hear him yelling and see his rope was still loaded. So his buddy tried to rappel down on 3mm cord and an ATC and most likely went out of control and hit the ledge.

*I* as an EXTREMELY highly experience rope access technician, would not have attempted the rappel in the first place without a wetsuit, and even then it would be a very dangerous thing to do.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Agonal breathing brought on by hypothermia?

Or by the harnesses? Or combination of both?

Just curious

 

[Dawall]

Very good post! Sad for the boy's and the families. It is great to know there are people like you willing to risk your life for the safety of others.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Agonal breathing brought on by hypothermia?

Or by the harnesses? Or combination of both?

Just curious

Don't know, and anything I do say is speculation only as the autopsy has not been done yet, and even then it's likely we won't know. I have a little more information that I cannot say since the medical examiner has not release his findings and I would not want that speculation to get to the families. Nothing sinister or hinky, it's just important that the families have the most accurate information they can.

 

[Hoosier8]

Ach, so sad to hear. Unprepared and more testosterone than experience. I feel sorry for their families and friends.

 

[Leadeye]

Until you experience it, it's hard to understand how fast that happens. Sad, I guess they were not wearing any protection from the water?

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Don't know, and anything I do say is speculation only as the autopsy has not been done yet, and even then it's likely we won't know. I have a little more information that I cannot say since the medical examiner has not release his findings and I would not want that speculation to get to the families. Nothing sinister or hinky, it's just important that the families have the most accurate information they can.

10-4.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Until you experience it, it's hard to understand how fast that happens. Sad, I guess they were not wearing any protection from the water?

T-shirts, shorts, and tennis shoes. The guy I sent down to attach the lowering line to their harness was wearing a caving suit and was hypothermic when I got to the bottom a few minutes later, and he's also an extremely experienced rope rescue guy and was only actually in the water for a minute or so.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

What got me interested in Search & Rescue in the first place was my last Active Duty unit was assigned the SAR support mission for Washington State in the 70s. The 3 AirCav troops rotated the "SAR Standby" based on our training cycles. I was assigned to the Troop SAR Coordinator position and my next-to-last standby occurred during hunting season. We had 13 callouts during that period; the SAR groups we were assisting found 11 (we found 2 ourselves). Every single individual was suffering from hypothermia when they were found. One young man was found stripped down to his underwear in 30 degree weather. People tend to almost universally underestimate how quickly hypothermia can take hold, and they generally have no idea how to treat it, if they even recognize it's occurring.

Sorry about your recovery, Shibumiseeker; it's always tough to bring out a body & even worse to watch 'em die...

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Interesting and sad story. I have read the associated articles found online it seems that these kids had no business being in that cave. I am a little confused about one thing. If I understand correctly you are in Indiana and they sent a rescue team from Indiana to Georgia for the rescue? Isn't there a rescue team closer that could have gotten there sooner or am I missing something. This is in no way meant to discredit you, I am just confused by the logistics.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Interesting and sad story. I have read the associated articles found online it seems that these kids had no business being in that cave. I am a little confused about one thing. If I understand correctly you are in Indiana and they sent a rescue team from Indiana to Georgia for the rescue? Isn't there a rescue team closer that could have gotten there sooner or am I missing something. This is in no way meant to discredit you, I am just confused by the logistics.

I was in Georgia for a board meeting for rescue folks. That's why the response was as high level as it was because the first three people to the victims were some of the most highly trained cave rescue people in the world. The "IWTFM" in my signline is a modification of the computer acronym "RTFM" and stands for "I Wrote The F-ing Manual"

I obscure details of my personal life here often because I am fairly widely known in my discipline of rescue, so it'd be like posting my name, phone number, and address.

 

[shibumiseeker]

This is the most accurate news report thus far:
2 University of Florida students die exploring Georgia cave - CNN.com

 

[sadclownwp]

Sad as this may be, let us all look at the bright side, that's 1 person that died doing something he liked, and 1 that died trying to rescue a friend or whatever. Both are admirable ways to go.

 

[E5RANGER375]

I was in Georgia for a board meeting for rescue folks. That's why the response was as high level as it was because the first three people to the victims were some of the most highly trained cave rescue people in the world. The "IWTFM" in my signline is a modification of the computer acronym "RTFM" and stands for "I Wrote The F-ing Manual"

I obscure details of my personal life here often because I am fairly widely known in my discipline of rescue, so it'd be like posting my name, phone number, and address.

I knew that was you

sad to hear you had to do a recovery on your trip. they had the best on it, so if there was any chance at least it wasnt lost on amateurs.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Sad as this may be, let us all look at the bright side, that's 1 person that died doing something he liked, and 1 that died trying to rescue a friend or whatever. Both are admirable ways to go.

And if you like walking, you can try a tightrope over the Grand Canyon, as well, or see if you can skydive without a parachute and survive. There's a difference between doing what you love and doing it stupidly, thus, endangering you and the folks who come to try to rescue you, as well.

 

[Hoosier8]

I was in Georgia for a board meeting for rescue folks. That's why the response was as high level as it was because the first three people to the victims were some of the most highly trained cave rescue people in the world. The "IWTFM" in my signline is a modification of the computer acronym "RTFM" and stands for "I Wrote The F-ing Manual"

I obscure details of my personal life here often because I am fairly widely known in my discipline of rescue, so it'd be like posting my name, phone number, and address.

IWTFM, I like that. I do know you live near Bedford on a lot of land. lol

 

[shibumiseeker]

And if you like walking, you can try a tightrope over the Grand Canyon, as well, or see if you can skydive without a parachute and survive. There's a difference between doing what you love and doing it stupidly, thus, endangering you and the folks who come to try to rescue you, as well.

I don't think I'd put it quite as harshly, but it's true. We had one significant injury (luckily just some bad bruising) among the rescuers, and the guy I sent down to attach the line to them was in a measure of danger I would not have placed him in if there'd been no chance at all anyone was still alive.

I've lost friends while they were performing rescues and damn near became a casualty myself during one when the line was was on was almost disconnected by another rescuer when I was near the top of a 65' drop.

If I had a heart attack while caving or hiking and died, I would have died doing something I loved. If I died because I made a bad decision that's just a waste.

 

[shibumiseeker]

IWTFM, I like that. I do know you live near Bedford on a lot of land. lol

Yeah, well, anyone wanting to do a little investigation could find out who I am from my postings here, and I've privately told a number of folks here, and there's a few who know me from before INGO, including a couple INGO members who have been on rescues with me (RandyB and Dr. Falken), but it's a whole different thing to make it easy and publicly searchable. This way I can maintain deniability