US visitor dies after swimming off Eden Rock
(CNS): A man who was visiting the Cayman Islands from the United States died yesterday after he was pulled from the water and rushed to hospital. According to a police press release, just after 11:30am Wednesday, the emergency services were called to the George Town waterfront by Don Fosters Dive Shop where the man was in the water and unresponsive. The Cayman Islands Coast Guard vessel was able to locate him and bring him to shore. He was then taken by ambulance to the Cayman Islands Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No details of the victim have been released.
The man was the first person to die in Cayman waters so far this year. Ten people died in Cayman waters last year, including a local child who drowned in Cayman Brac and three men suspected to have been smuggling ganja when their boat capsized.
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Category: Local News
how come there have been no media coverage of the tourist that drowned at spotts on December 22nd ?
If a business is accepting money and liability for a service renting gear/parking spot/access ladder to novice visitors, then they either have the duty to ensure snorkelers can swim well in the open ocean and are paired with physically capable buddy, or provide a life guard escort/guide at additional cost. We can’t accept a half dozen of these vacationer “accidents” every year. This isn’t White Lotus.
Come on we aren’t a nanny state. Adults need to take personal responsibility. I am sorry for this visitor who lost their life and for the family they left behind. But you have to be responsible for yourself. The ocean even when flat and calm is still a dangerous environment. We aren’t sea creatures. We enter at our own risk. Victim mentality is not productive to a flourishing society. Take personal responsibility.
The buddy, if there even was one, left their pal to be later fished out by the Coast Guard. Who does that? If there was no buddy, then what kind of shop opens their till for a lone snorkeler? Hence the comment: have a buddy, or rent one. We can’t get comfortable with an acceptable number of dead guests.
He may have had a medical emergency of some sort while in the water, anything is possible, so don’t blame the ocean, and certainly don’t talk nonsense about sea creatures
Condolences to the family
I never blamed sea creatures. I’m a diver with a marine biology degree to boot. I’m not blaming sea creatures. I’m merely stating that we aren’t fish. The ocean isn’t our natural environment. As a result we take a risk every time we enter the water. You should take care and swimming alone isn’t advised. There is no rule on it however. By law divers cant be rented gear to dive solo but solo snorkelers aren’t held to the same standard. All I’m saying is you cant blame the dive shop for this mans unfortunate end. We all need to take personal responsibility.
In the winter months we can very occasionally encounter wayward man-o-war jellies blowing in from Eastern Caribbean. Rare, but it will change your day. I know buddy groups that have been stung by same tentacles out by Eden Rock too. Jelly doesn’t even need to be alive anymore for the nematocysts to fire. Need to take some care walking on beach after nor’westers too. There’s also the remote possibility of box jellies and sea wasps at night. We are not in Kansas.
If a business is taking money, they have a duty to provide some basic oversight and quality control to the experience, not shrug their shoulders when clients die. Making sure there is a responsible and physically capable buddy is de-risking eyeball test that dive shops are supposed to be doing anyway. Even a liability waiver doesn’t necessarily stop a determined 8 figure lawsuit if it can point to negligence and duty of care lapses.
99.9% of people do take responsibility, but as people come here for the blue water experience, we do have an obligation to look out for the 0.1% of those others who want to experience it, that may not be open water experts.
No details are shown of what the person experienced as a cause of the incident. A buddy/companion in the water would mitigate a good portion or risk, but we dont know if they were accompanied or swimming alone.
Exactly. Going down a staircase is surely understood to be “at one’s risk” too, but if we target a million people a year to come use it, and a we know that a dozen break their hips falling on that staircase per year, then at some point we have a responsibility to purchase and install a hand rail. Same thing with bulk snorkel package cruise profiteers. At some point there should be a lifeguard (shared maybe) in a kayak or jetski that’s there to assist to save a life, rather than wait for a Coast Guard morgue crew to gaff their body out of the busy Harbour. Get the liners to pay for that equipment and salary.
Is this a serious comment or was it sarcastic?
Renting snorkel gear does not necessitate a ‘swim test’. Nor renting a scooter requires a driving test. Or buying a stove require that you know how to operate it! Sheesh the lack of brain cells is appalling. And yes, my condolences to the family. My SCUBA days are coming to an end in 5-6 years – common sense of what I can do, vs the past 600 dives is a reality I accept, and is solely MY responsibility.
7:48 I’m glad you are sensible and understand the risk. Others in this comment section seem to be struggling with this.
Sitting in the emergency exit aisle of an airplane requires those so seated to be willing and able to assist in the case of emergency. Nobody has to prove that by lifting the door off its hinges or deploying the chute. The flight attendant takes an eyeball appropriateness estimation on that. Same with raising your hand to volunteer to be someone’s dive, snorkel, or swim buddy. Related or not, the 5 year old kid isn’t the 400lb man’s buddy. We need someone else to agree to supplement that scenario, then we’re good. Dive shops have been doing this for generations – or should be!
It does not say anything about using any business just were they were recovered from.
This doesn’t make sense. Anyone can jump into the water from anywhere. You can bring your own gear and jump into the water at sunset house without having to “book” a spot.. so you can’t leave it up to the company to be responsible when idiots will do what they please anyway. It is up to the individual to be responsible and feel confident to go into the water. After all swimming is a solo sport…it is no ones fault but your own.
Swimming generally isn’t a solo sport, it’s a buddy activity all over the world.