Although they didn't explicitly discuss what caused the accident, you can get the info if you read between the lines. They explicitly stated that he was diving an AGA mask and that he had a massive barotrauma in the shape of the mask. So we can conclude that the plummeting to the bottom cause the gas in the mask to contract and thus caused the barotrauma. Now it is important to understand how the AGA mask works but, in short, you breathe by causing a vacuum in the mask and then it delivers more gas so you can inhale. Thus, for there to be such a vacuum causing this barotrauma, the mask must have been unable to deliver any gas. This could be a malfunction, but given the stressing of his remaining gas and how important it is to monitor your gas, we can conclude that the reason the mask failed to deliver any more gas was an empty tank. This would also explain why he bolted and lost consciousness. He exhaled and then nothing. Straight into panic and went for the surface but then lost consciousness from hypoxia. Now, as for the rescue efforts, I wished you guys had picked up on the fact that they removed the mask at the bottom. This is a big fat no-no. Humans are unconscious breathers (as opposed to crocodiles for which every breath is a conscious decision). By removing the mask of an unconscious casualty, they may cause the casualty to drown. If the brain randomly fires to breathe, the casualty with the mask removed will inhale water. If the mask is in place this cannot happen. Furthermore, there is no point in removing the mask other than providing the casualty with a regulator to breathe from, but an unconscious casualty will not accept a regulator, clear it, and breathe. I'm not faulting the rescuers for doing this mistake in the moment, but we need to discuss it to learn from it. This action increased the risk of drowning for the casualty and wasted time at the bottom that could be used to rescue the casualty. Chances are, by the time they removed the mask, they could have already been at the surface. Full face masks save lives because they keep the face dry. Never remove them from another diver. It should always be a conscious decision by the diver themselves to remove the FFM. In rescuing an FFM diver, you don't touch their mask. As to the question of hypercapnia, given that he was massively overweight, he may have gotten a hit from exhaustion. He isn't the youngest diver either after all. The mushroom valves would be another possible reason. I fully concur with Woody here.

This show, Rescue 911, I owe my life to. My mom and I used to watch it a lot together, she wanted me learn about being safe and what to do in certain situations. I was around seven at the time and I would walk home alone and wait at home alone until my mom got off of work. This one day on the way home from school I stopped at the ice cream truck and bought some candy, which were jaw breakers. I walked on, sat on the couch and began to eat my candy. The very first jaw breaker I put in my mouth install went down my throat and got stuck. I was home alone and began to panic, first thing I did was call my mom but of course I couldn’t get a word out, which of course freaked my mom out. I hung up with her and remembered an episode of Rescue 911 we had only watched a week or two earlier about what to do in this exact same situation. I ran over to the kitchen table and used one of the chairs to press against my stomach, slamming it over and over until finally the piece of candy went flying out of my mouth. I sat on the couch in shock, a few minutes later my mom came running through the door and then several minutes later an ambulance pulled up. My mom worked on the other side of town which is usually a 20-30 minute drive, she managed to get there before the emergency services could. To think if I hadn’t seen that episode I wouldn’t have known what to do and I wouldn’t be here right now.

I absolutely LOVE that you guys do not support touching or bothering the wildlife! Just admire them from a distance. Love that u guys have such respect for them. Thank u!

They don’t make shows like this anymore. That reenactment felt like I was watching the real event taking place. No over the top music, no overdramatic camera work… that was intense.

It is incredible he survived from such an accident... passed out underwater, went all the way down to 25m, then brought up fast up to surface, this guy is so lucky, it is crazy

This is exactly why every diver - every single one - should get Rescue certified, regardless of agency. You never know when you will need to use it.

Im age 70 and have been diving about 4 years. Did my first wreck dive. Deepest I go is 30 metres…. Watching this happening at that depth has made me feel thankful I have such wonderful instructors…… I always am looked after and am so aware of what I and they are doing…. These divers showed how quickly things can go so wrong………..my children don’t like me diving but as their mum, I respect their wishes but I do so love it. ….. I take care….. as I hope they do on their motorbikes and in their cars and on their travels….

The reenactment of these stories from rescue 911 always amazed me. The scariest one I’ve ever watched was from Australia. It was about a huge spider that had started crawling up a young lady’s leg up under her dress while she was driving. When she realized it was a spider, she ended up losing control and caused a bad accident. It was revealed later that while the spider was terrifying to see, it wasn’t poisonous. The end of the show had Shatner telling the viewers to get to know the insects/critters in your country so you will know which ones are harmless vs harmful. I had to laugh at that statement because that spider was the largest, ugliest looking spider I had ever seen. There’s no way a regular joe blow would see that thing and think, “Oh, that’s just a harmless spider. I don’t need to freak out.” Thanks for sharing this clip and your insight/experience with diving. I’ve always wanted to learn, but unfortunately the older I’ve gotten, the more broke down my body has become.

9:24 I actually started tearing up. That must've been so fucking traumatic for his friends to see. I can't imagine how painful that whole experience was for everyone involved.

I’m not even a diver and I’m unsure how did I ended up watching your channel but I LOVE YOU GUYS! Your channel is fun, entertaining, great personalities, interesting content and I have learned so much about a topic that I never thought would be of my interest. Thank you 🙏🏽

I was feeling sad at the beginning because they talked like it had killed him, and then He Lived! It made me feel so relieved I cried. How amazing

The composure that it took for those two guys to save him is unreal. They handled that like bosses.

Wow... I'm a non diver but first aid trained, and this is a really stark reminder that when things go wrong, especially underwater, they usually go wrong in seconds and drastically to boot. Very important for us all to remember, no matter what activities we're doing. Thanks guys.

As a fairly new diver, only open water certified, you guys do a great job with reminding me the dangers of scuba diving and why following safety procedures is important. Thanks guys!

I love that he recognized the mistakes they took. Lucky man!

This is such a miraculous story; what a fine line between miracle and tragedy. I can't imagine the gratitude and jubilation and clarity in every breath he's drawn since the event. I hope his friends got any therapy they may have needed afterwards😵‍💫

My rescue course was brutal and extreamly stressful. Thanks to my instructors for making it as real as possible.

I can't believe nobody is talking about the elephant in the room. That shark is suffering from a barotrauma injury that is so severe, it's tongue as popped out of it's head and it looks just like Woody.

After seeing the scene where the mask is removed, I have to say this has to be the most extreme reenactment I have ever seen on this show.

I’ve always wanted to go scuba diving but am extremely afraid to do so. That being said, I think a lot of people don’t understand how disciplined and skillful divers are. It’s a lot of preparation that goes into it and time to understand the art. These guys should be proud of themselves for the actions they took.

WOW!!!!! The way they were talking and how fast he flew up and dropped then his face and the blood coming out....... I can't believe he came back. I have tears in my eyes. These guys were great in reacting quickly.

not only is the Diver Stress and Rescue class one of the most useful for a recreation diver, it is absolutely the most fun to take or, to teach!

He was extremely lucky. There are many professional divers who have fatal accidents. Some while recovering the dead. It's just heartbreaking. This man definitely had guardian Angels. What a beautiful ending.

This is such an amazing story. I full on did not expect him to make it. There are just those experienced professionals that sometimes, who knows what it is, but you're meant to be there, and fight another day.

I love that in all of these scary and close call stories that you guys have a take away of knowledge and learning instead of bashing them for mistakes made .. keep finding the silver lining in these stories boys .. love the content

Both of my parents were scuba divers and had about every certification you could have. The amount of cases like this that they experienced always left me quite nervous. Something happened almost every trip. Its just amazing how two people can have the same certs yet one is truly an expert and was taught right while the other is completely incompetent and definitely wasnt taught correctly

Man, I miss Rescue 911 terribly. Grew up in the UK watching that show, and it's actually how I first learned how to do CPR and ended up getting my full first aid and CPR certification later as an adult (which I have kept renewing since). That show is single-handedly responsible for saving literally HUNDREDS of lives, and it's a damn shame they stopped recording episodes and took it off-air.

Rescue 911, a blast from the past. This was one of my favorite shows growing up as a kid. As always, great content guys. I'm not a diver but I enjoy watching this channel.

Two takeaways: Woody’s hat, and “Stop touching stuff”. You guys are awesome!! I love your channel!

It’s nice to see how he loved and appreciated every day he’s alive even more after this death experience.

Excellent re-enactment. It's absolutely brutal what was depicted. Incredible miracle.

before i started following you guys about a year ago, i was scared silly of diving. Now, i’m saving up for dive lessons so i can pursue the passion you guys lit in me! thank you guys for another great video 💫

I honestly love all of Woody's weird and wacky hats. Makes my day!

This show and unsolved mysteries back when they were originally aired give me such a good feeling of nostalgia. Watching this with my mom when it was just me and her before she met my stepdad who adopted me and is truly one of the greatest dads of all time. God I miss the 80s/90s so badly!

Time played a major role here, I think. The pressure differences probably would have killed him if the process took longer. But he went up and down quickly, then back up relatively quickly. That was probably pretty crucial to him surviving.

I’m not a diver and I don’t want to learn to dive, but watching your videos is something I really enjoy doing. Keep up the great work guys and keep them coming!

My wife is an RN and we have discussed why PADI requires AOW prior to teaching rescue. I’m also a standup paddler. Taking advanced paddle classes that involved rescue ended up being helpful literally the next weekend for me, so I’m working towards getting rescue certified for diving as well.

While I was watching this, I had to tell myself to BREATHE!!! What an incredible story! Thank God to all the men who took action quickly! Incredible!

I was expecting the worst and this is such an amazing success story. So touching and beautiful!

I love how the wife's reaction once she found out her husband wasn't going to die was "Will he be able to provide for me though?"

As stated by others in the comments the Rescue course is a must for all recreational divers. like all courses find a good instructor and it will change how you approach diving and your general awareness of other divers around you.

Thank you for sharing. As a both a certified rescue diver and medical professional, I got goosebumps the moment he started rapidly ascending to the surface. I'd like to think I would have been able to do as great a job as his buddies did responding quickly and giving him the help he needed.

People need to watch this and do as much research on diving before making a decision. I’m happy he survived & yes it’s very critical to have EMT on standby!! Thank God

This is giving me flashbacks to the first and only time ive had to give someone who was completely not breathing/no heartbeat CPR. His face was completely purple and when i tried to give him mouth to mouth his jaw was locked shut. I pried it open and was able to breathe for him and do chest compressions for probably 10 minutes before the ambulance got there. He actually woke up right when the medics got there.

Ah, that quick "stop touching stuff!" reminded me instantly why I love you guys lol

I remember this show as a kid. This reenactment was the most amazing and jarring ive seen. No background music, just narration by those involved and drama performed flawlessly 🎭

Rescue 911 was a fantastic show. It actually taught me a lot about emergency situations. In fact, I was at Kentucky kingdom with my family when I was young and we got on a ride called the thriller bees, which was just a swing around the circle kid ride, it was a two seater car ride in the shape of a bumblebee and it had a bar that came down across your lap in your seat that kept you from falling out of the ride while it was going. Unfortunately, my hand was exactly where the bar came down into the latch and sliced right into my pinky. I knew immediately that it was a deep wound and to put pressure on it and not let go. I was so scared I was gonna lose my finger that I held my hand so tight the end of my pinky was purple. By the time I got to their ER center at the park the medic that was there told me they were very impressed that I knew at my age (7 or 8) to keep pressure on it and that is probably what saved my pinky.. to this day I remember my response was “yeah, I watch a lot of rescue 911.”

Where I learn to dive, years ago, they teach us how to recover an unconscious divers, from 30m, drag him to the coast on the surface and then make the oxygenotherapy on the coast. And this from D1 up to a D3 divers level, only the depth change regarding to the level.

I dont dive and never ever even plan on snorkeling and i hate boats. This channel is one of my favorites on youtube. Consistent excellent and honest content. Keep up the great work. FYI i do electrical work and fly fpv drones for fun.

Major props to people who risk their lives doing professions like this and other life threatening professions. It takes some big balls to risk your own life for someone/something else

when I got certified as a diver, (I am certified to the Advanced SCUBA diver level,) after completing one of my open water dives, one of my instructors left me with this: as a diver just always follow 3 rules, and you'll be fine. 1: Never dive beyond your comfort zone, and your certification level. 2: Never dive alone. and 3: if it doesn't swim away from you, it's not afraid of you. you swim away from it, and watch it from a distance. in every dive I've done since then, I have always gone by those 3 rules.

8:17 "Captain we have a problem!" If this isn't a meme yet... It is now lmfao.

That's a great group of divers, a real friendship absolutely amazing guys when he fell my heart sank but yall saved that mans life that's awesome. Sidebar: I love swimming but I'm terrified of the ocean it's sheer vastness is frightening. Double Sidebar: Your commentary is very enlightening I learn a lot from you guys so thanks for that.

Why do I not doubt the Woody happily wear these hats in public. Such a carefree spirit 🤣

“Hi, I’m woody ✋🏼😃” I love that part every time. Woody seems so wholesome

This was my favorite show when I was a kid. I knew I wanted to be a nurse at a young age and this just gave me my first “experience”

I can remember a whole childhood in the early 80’z filled with evenings of Rescue 911 the TV show series before bed! I wish they still did new episodes of that!..

I feel sorry for his collegue, he seems really traumatized by the whole thing

Discovered this channel today and I'm binge watching it. Rescue 911 was a staple in my household as a child.

Wow. So glad the guy lived to tell the story. I had a hard time watching this one. I had to put it down and come back multiple times. Glad I finally watched all the way through.

First thank you for explaining the tank levels. I love your videos and appreciate your explanations. Wow that’s amazing. They didn’t panic and got him to the top. People are human and make errors and he’s extremely lucky to be alive.

This was nice. Just great analysis of a dive related medical emergency, Gus wasn't embarrassed repeatedly and I didn't roll my eyes at Woody once! Well done gentlemen.

Unbelievable story of trauma and saving a life. Cheers to all the rescuers involved that day.

Man… I’m not even a diver but God bless each and everyone of those guys who came to his aid so quickly! That was so intense- ☮️

Wow that was scary as crap!!!! Thank the good Lord this guys were all prepaired and well trained. Just goes to show you anything can hapn at any given time. You guys are super devoted and l woulndnt wanna go diving with anyone else but my guys Woody n Gus n Mike Y and EDD. You guys are awesome!!!!!

Found your channel recently and absolutely love it 😀 I'm no diver I suffer with severe anxiety issues, I'd never go diving because I believe that you'd be taking a unnecessary risk just by taking me along.

That’s legit some of the best reenactment footage I’ve ever seen

So many nameless heroes in this world that truly do not want the credit. It's a beautiful thing.

Wow! This one brought tears to my eyes.. Awesome response by his dive buddies. I do have to say, I spent my childhood summers in Destin and I don't think the reenactment was done there.. Still an awesome video with an amazing outcome! I'm TOTALLY loving the hat, Woody!! 🦈

Such a great reminder of why the skills learned in scuba classes are so important! Shows how important it is to immediately go into assessment mode when an accident happens and to avoid panicking. Great video!

I imagine the only thing worse than having to check out in such a rough way is having someone wearing a shark hat analyze it afterwards

"stop touching stuff" that tone was so funny, i love this guy lmao 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Wow that was insane. Amazing acting too looked so real. Ive seen a diver got mask squeeze when diving. That happened so quick he didn't even know what hit him. When surfaced the dive guide told him you got a mask squeeze and gave him a mirror to see lol.

Love these rescue 911 videos! So many good lessons to learn from and 90s nostalgia to reminisce about!

"Stop touching stuff!" Great advice 😂😅. I laughed so hard when you said that! New subscriber.

As we all know with Oceangate disaster. The underwar environment is infinitely unforgiving versus interstellar space.

Fully support all the comments about doing a rescue course. It may seem intimidating for new or resort divers but it is actually really fun, rewarding when you've done it, and of course may save a life, including your own! But for me the other lesson out of this incident is preparation; ie anticipate and avoid issues that may escalate into emergencies. This diver's problems were avoidable. So as they said, don't get in the water when you're dog tired. First time in the ocean you might want to try a shore or shallower dive first. Check your weighting before the dive; 15 pounds too much lead is a lot and may well have also contributed to the high gas consumption. Know your kit and drills. Full-face masks are relatively unusual for inexperienced divers and have their quirks. Basics such as low on air drills also need to be practiced and remembered, especially when their are full-face masks in the mix! And coming back to the rescue course, one of the benefits it teaches you is greater awareness of your surroundings and your fellow divers. So if you see one of the group is burning through their gas faster than the rest of you, you should anticipate having to give them your alternate and maybe even offer it before they ask. So it's good to see clips like this as we can all think about what we might do before and during to get a good outcome or ideally, as I say, avoid the situation entirely.

I am so glad this man was saved that day. And thanks for everyone that did it., I know this was made a while ago but it’s still such a great story..

After Boy Scout gatherings my Dad would pick us up a take us home where we would ritually turn on TV and watch, in order, American Gladiators, Quantum Leap, and finally Rescue 911. On Tuesday’s it was Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack. When everybody would go to bed, I would stay up and watch Tales From the Crypt.

I have watched several of your shows contemplating how I felt about it. You see, I was trained in fresh water. My first saltwater dive was the Great Barrier Reef. My little group were the recipients of this amazing gift. I didn’t want to be the one to say, “What the heck. Am I really ready for this dive.“ 100 miles from shore and 101 feet deep. I saw a minke whale. I fell in love with diving at that moment, but things change. Not every dive is a good dive. Our next dive was off of Cozumel. Wreck diving. Wonderful dive. That night while celebrating, I enjoyed wine with our meal. First mistake. By morning, I suffered a migraine. At 65 feet deep, I loosened my mask and it flooded. I choked and panicked. I looked up and that’s where I wanted to be, so I took off in a hurry. Three dive guides grabbed my fin, pulled me down and basically saved my life. After some time I was able to clear my mask and make it back up and to our boat safely. I Respect Greatly your work here!

Great video! Thanks 4 sharing! I really enjoy when u guys explain whats happening and why. you break down all the divers terms and make it easier 2 understand for those of us who are not divers.

I still internally cringe seeing people panic in water I drowned in a lake one time from panicking from a strong current it’s very scary stuff the weird thing is though is that I remember the last part peaceful while drowning like it was almost like even though I was actually dying and nobody would recover me I felt at peace and was ready for what was next

My friend died in accident like that in Egypt. So hard to watch this, so sorry for loss to his family. She was out of oxygen, she panicked. They told us they had to use emergency airbag to surface her. Died on the way to hospital. Will never forget that phone call. She was 19, young and loved Anastasia

Man, that immediate and effective care made 100.0% of the difference.

Amazing, how tough the human body can be to survive this ordeal.

I will never dive for two reasons - fear of drowning and I can't even go under in a few feet of water because of water getting into my ears. I go under, come back up and all I can hear is the water swishing around inside my ears and all other sound sounds like I'm still underwater. It takes hours for the water come out of my ears, drives me nuts.

This man was so lucky to have mates that knew exactly what to do. I’m so glad he made it. I’ve done diving once, down 20 feet, for about half an hour and it just wasn’t for me. I felt nothing but fear the whole time. All I could think of was all the things that can go wrong. It didn’t help that my mask was slowly filling with water. I motioned to my diving teacher to go up and together we slowly ascended. I never dived again. I guess it’s for some people, but I just couldn’t enjoy the dive. All I felt was crushing fear. Plus I’m terrified of sharks. 😬 Anyway, god bless this man that made it out ok and how brave to continue to dive.

Been diving as a Divemaster I can say what your channel its awesome! Congrats and saludos from cozumel mexico

Love your channel guys! I would love to scuba dive again, it is such an amazing experience that is hard to put words to. When I watch on a screen it seems a little freaky, but once you get in the water, and you take a couple breaths, you realize that you’re going to be OK. Just make sure that you dive with others that are better than you and can help you with your gear before you get in! 🕊♥️🇨🇦🕊

I have what's probably an incredibly dumb question... I've worn glasses my whole life, are people with normal vision able to see underwater without a mask? For some reason that just popped in my head watching this. Also how do people with glasses, that don't wear contacts, swim with masks? Are there rx masks? Love you guys btw!!! Always the highlight of my day when you upload. 😀💖

And to think, he was 63 back in 1994, which means he's around 92ish today. William Shatner still looked like himself back then 😅

LOVE rescue 911! That’s my childhood! And I think they have great storytelling and public advisory aspects to the show. More please!!

Another great show lads..your videos have actually tempted me to start learning how to dive..UK non diver 😁👍

In the Canadian military, everyone and their mother must be first aid and cpr qualified starting the first weeks of training. Then we get onto the more complex t.c.c.c. course's with triage under fire and all that fun stuff. Every work force should do free yearly paid training for cpr and first aid at the bare minimum.

I love this channel! I'm a new certified scuba diver and this story is absolutely highlights the importance of safety.

as a prior firefighter, our scba face pieces are similar to the AGA masks in the way that when you run out of air, it is like being wrapped with syran wrap and trying to get a breath that isnt there, and im sure would be 1000x more terrifying under water, ive seen people connect their regulator without opening the tank and within 2 seconds of trying to breath and the mask just sucking to their face, some people will panic and forget basic procedures like taking the regulator off, causing them to go into mass panic, flailing their arms, running away, trying to rip off the entire mask while being under a helmet and a hood, most of the time it doesnt come off easy at all, and you can learn a lot about how someone deals with a emergency situation by seeing them in a full mask with no air, of course always check your buddies gear before doing anything. thats what i learned

If you do something dangerous, make sure you are with trustworthy people. If something happens, they can help you.

I wonder why they took off his full face mask? I think I would have kept it on and used the purge valve on the regulator. That would have cleared out any CO2 that might have been present. But great work after the surfaced, immediate O2 is crucial.

RESCUE 9-1-1 was my dad and I favorite show. Every Tuesday evening at 8pm central time. I couldn’t wait and had the popcorn ready. It was just that weird thing that we both found so interesting! RIP Daddy.

wasn't ready to cry today but wow that guys perspective on life after that got me