Michigan man dies while scuba diving at White Star Quarry in Gibsonburg
GIBSONBURG - A 63-year-old Wyandotte, Michigan, man died Tuesday in a scuba diving incident at White Star Quarry, the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office reported.
Louis David Weinstein was unresponsive when pulled from the water, and despite lifesaving efforts by lifeguards and EMS on the beach and in an ambulance, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The sheriff's office said deputies responded to the White Star Quarry beach at 4:22 p.m. for an emergency involving a scuba diver. When deputies arrived, they observed several people, including lifeguards, pulling a male subject out of the water.
Robert Gnam of Wyandotte, Michigan, said he had accompanied Weinstein when they entered the water from a concrete scuba diving platform around 3:45 p.m., according to a sheriff's office report. Barbara Ann Friedman of Trenton, Michigan, Weinstein's girlfriend, waited on the shore, the report said.
Gnam told deputies that it had been a normal dive at a maximum depth of 44 feet and that he and Weinstein stayed together during the entire dive before surfacing after about 30 to 35 minutes. "At no time were either diver in any type of distress," the report states.
Weinstein then began to cough and stated he was having trouble breathing. As the pair began to swim to the beach, Weinstein said his legs were "very heavy" and he was having trouble swimming. Gnam advised Weinstein to relax and he would pull him to shore.
Deputy William Darling wrote that as Gnam "began to pull Louis by his Buoyancy Control Device, Louis passed out. Robert stated that he attempted to revive Louis, but Louis rolled face down in the water. Robert immediately rolled Louis to his back again and fully inflated Louis' BCD. Robert stated that as he got closer to the outer marking buoys of the swimming area, he began yelling for help. At that time, lifeguards from the swimming area swam out to assist."
Gnam and Friedman told deputies that neither was aware of any previous medical issues with Weinstein. Gnam said he and Weinstein had been diving together for at least five or six years and that they each had about 10 years of scuba diving experience.
Deputies collected the Scuba diving equipment at the scene and secured it. The Sandusky County Coroner Investigator also responded to the scene.
Second scuba diving emergency in 3 days
Tuesday's tragedy was the second scuba diving emergency at White Star Quarry in three days.
At around 12:48 p.m. Saturday, a woman reported seeing a diver unconscious about 8 feet under the surface of the water, dove in and pulled him to the surface and yelled for someone to call 911.
The man was swollen and blue in color, according to a report by the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office.
Several subjects came to the man's aid and performed CPR. The diver was later flown by medical helicopter to Toledo Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, according to the sheriff's office report.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Scuba diver dies at White Star Quarry
