UPDATE: Man dies after diving incident at Champagne

Champagne Beach

One American national is dead following a diving incident which occurred at Champagne Dive Site on Wednesday.

According to Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Simon Edwards the deceased is 65-yr-old Randolph O’Neill.

He said the incident occurred at about 8:30 am.

O’Neill was rushed to the casualty department of the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) at 10:15 am where he was pronounced dead by a medical doctor.

The body was transported to the Lyndhurst Funeral Home.

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16 Comments

  1. Friedlebug
    April 11, 2019

    The incident occurred at 8.30am but it took almost 2 hours to get the guy to PMH from Champagne Reef ? Rushed ? Wa gwan ?

  2. Sybil nowell
    April 11, 2019

    Evil one you dam jack… , and you mean that safety is an issue, that we need to be more careful ,I would at yes, but to be stooping so low as to blame the minister for this unfortunate life loss come on..Could it be that he died from another cause
    Dominica needs deliverance from your wicked biased tongues.No one should endeavour these nasty statements. I do hope that all your troubles in DA will be small ones
    Please remember that words have powers to perform.

  3. April 11, 2019

    I hope the government do safety checks for any people’s or owners that give tours or dive on the island. These oxygen tanks should be necked and certified before any form of diving. Also an experienced person should be present or at hand when required before, during and afternoon prevent this tragic incident on the island.

    • Nudibranch
      April 11, 2019

      The best way to get any casualty from diving to the hospital remains arguably by boat to the bayfront for transfer given the deplorable state of the Pointe Michel to Soufriere road. All authorized vessels are equipped with first aid and oxygen and all staff are 1st aid, oxygen and CPR trained. I am sure they tried their best to recussitate the victim. Condolences to his family.

  4. Nitrogen narcosis
    April 10, 2019

    There is oxygen in air but a small amount it’s only about 20% Nitrogen makes up about 80% of the air mixture it is not possible to breathe pure oxygen at depth Because it becomes toxic under pressure If you dive too deep with compressed air The partial pressure of the oxygen in the compressed air can become toxic So to avoid O2 toxicity There is a minimum depth limit set for diving with compressed air Diving with oxygen is forbidden Most diving accidents involves overexertion at the surface Which could lead to exhaustion which could cause heart attacks I don’t havethe details but most diving accidents actually happens at the surface not on the dive itself…

  5. Nitrogen narcosis
    April 10, 2019

    Are you asking for news or an investigation They said more information will be reported as it becomes available Relax man it’s just news….

  6. April 10, 2019

    Sad news RIP the ambulance cannot be everywhere at the same time.

    • Pipo
      April 11, 2019

      You don’t mean we have only one ambulance do you? What about the ambulances in military green the Chinese gave us? Can they not be used for civilian purpose.?

    • Robin
      April 14, 2019

      We need more ambulances then and more paramedics too

  7. Deliver us from the EVIL one
    April 10, 2019

    Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! That’s not good for Dominica man. It’s like before we get over one another one come up as if we are a country under a spell. Yesterday it was a plane crash which means air access was attacked and today, hours after the airport reopened is an attack by sea? So we are being attacked by air, sea and land then? Awa mister them have us under a spell boy and the country crying for deliverance

  8. Ibo France
    April 10, 2019

    Deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. Probably he was too far gone for the doctors to resuscitate him. However, I must make this statement in light of the inadequacies and appalling conditions at the main hospital (PMH). Every Dominican of financial means has to seek medical attention overseas once diagnosed with serious maladies or sustained life-threatening injuries. PMH has now been sadly reduced to a morgue where cadavers are taken to be bagged. Elections have consequences, vote wisely in the upcoming elections.

  9. Interpreter Found
    April 10, 2019

    I think we need more information regarding this story.

    Was the individual with a dive center or went out on their own from their yacht?
    Was the individual untrained doing an introductory dive and was unsupervised by the Dive Master or did they get lost?
    How did the body get to the surface?
    Did anyone perform CPR?
    How did they get to the hospital?

    There is just so much going on in this story and I don’t think I have ever heard of this incident with any dive center on island ever before, so it makes me wonder who exactly took this person out.

  10. Diver
    April 10, 2019

    Divers dive with air and not with oxygen. Secondly: the government closed the access to champagne so the ambulance cannot drive through to provide quick help.
    This has been reported a few times.
    I do not know if quicker access could have helped the poor man.

    • Frank N Stein
      April 10, 2019

      So what do you call those with tank? Tankers? People scuba dive so arent they divers? You are talking about free diving with air. Besides oxygen is in air.

      • a00r
        April 10, 2019

        Air is a mixture of gases, but oxygen is pure (just itself). … “the air we breathe is a mixture that contains primarily oxygen and nitrogen.

        Semantics…

    • SkepticalOne
      April 17, 2019

      The road was closed because of the illegal activities that were taking place down on the beach at night because of the road access.

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