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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Eye doc thinks he is a commando...</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Oct-26 10:48 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>23340.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Oct 27, 2009
DIVING TRAGEDY
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : start --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Diver was honing his skills
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>He was using a rebreather which recycles air and allows diver to stay down longer </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kimberly Spykerman & Teh Joo Lin
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
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Dr Lim, a keen diver, wanted to keep learning more and was planning a trip to Antarctica, his wife said. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF LEON BOEY
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE diver who died over the weekend while in Malaysia was undergoing specialised training when he ran into difficulty.
Dr Marcus Lim, 37, was using a device called a rebreather and breathing a mix of gases called trimix - nitrogen, oxygen and helium - his widow, Madam Christy Toh, told The Straits Times.
Dr Lim, the Singapore National Eye Centre's registrar, had been diving with 13 others at the Seven Skies wreck - a popular dive site off Pulau Aur on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
The trip was meant for experienced divers to hone their technical skills. Dr Lim, who was trained in the use of a rebreather, and two others were on the course, aided by an instructor.
What happened during the dive is still unclear.
One of the divers on the trip said he resurfaced around 9am to find Dr Lim already unconscious on the boat and receiving cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The group headed back to shore after gathering the other divers still in the water, and Dr Lim was then taken to a hospital in the town of Mersing, where he was later pronounced dead.
Contacted last night, Madam Toh, 34, herself a diver, said she did not have all the details of the tragedy, and thus did not want to say more.
Using rebreathers requires advanced training.
Unlike the conventional apparatus used by most divers, which expels exhaled air directly into the water, rebreathers recycle this air by removing carbon dioxide and replacing oxygen that has already been consumed.
This process gives rebreathers two main advantages over conventional gear.
First, oxygen wastage is cut, allowing divers to stay underwater for a longer period.
Second, because the air is not expelled into the water, few or no bubbles are created.
For recreational divers, this means marine creatures which are scared off by bubbles can be approached more closely - for taking photographs, for instance.
Military divers use rebreathers because the lack of tell-tale bubbles helps them avoid detection.
Dive instructors say there are few rebreather divers in Singapore, because the equipment and training are expensive.
Dr Lim's friends say he was eager to learn how to use the device because of his love of underwater photography. He had been using a rebreather for over a year without incident.
Said Madam Toh: 'He just wanted to keep learning more, and he was always doing the next thing.'
She said her husband had been looking forward to the birth of their second son next month. 'He loved his family... he was a wonderful father.' The couple have a three-year-old son.
She added that he was planning to go on a dive trip to Antarctica next year.
Diving instructor Leon Boey, 30, who got to know Dr Lim through a course he taught in August, called him an 'all-round nice guy' who had a 'very nice smile'.
The divers who were with Dr Lim have returned to Singapore. His body was flown home on Sunday night.
[email protected]
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DIVING TRAGEDY
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : start --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Diver was honing his skills
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>He was using a rebreather which recycles air and allows diver to stay down longer </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kimberly Spykerman & Teh Joo Lin
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Dr Lim, a keen diver, wanted to keep learning more and was planning a trip to Antarctica, his wife said. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF LEON BOEY
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE diver who died over the weekend while in Malaysia was undergoing specialised training when he ran into difficulty.
Dr Marcus Lim, 37, was using a device called a rebreather and breathing a mix of gases called trimix - nitrogen, oxygen and helium - his widow, Madam Christy Toh, told The Straits Times.
Dr Lim, the Singapore National Eye Centre's registrar, had been diving with 13 others at the Seven Skies wreck - a popular dive site off Pulau Aur on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
The trip was meant for experienced divers to hone their technical skills. Dr Lim, who was trained in the use of a rebreather, and two others were on the course, aided by an instructor.
What happened during the dive is still unclear.
One of the divers on the trip said he resurfaced around 9am to find Dr Lim already unconscious on the boat and receiving cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The group headed back to shore after gathering the other divers still in the water, and Dr Lim was then taken to a hospital in the town of Mersing, where he was later pronounced dead.
Contacted last night, Madam Toh, 34, herself a diver, said she did not have all the details of the tragedy, and thus did not want to say more.
Using rebreathers requires advanced training.
Unlike the conventional apparatus used by most divers, which expels exhaled air directly into the water, rebreathers recycle this air by removing carbon dioxide and replacing oxygen that has already been consumed.
This process gives rebreathers two main advantages over conventional gear.
First, oxygen wastage is cut, allowing divers to stay underwater for a longer period.
Second, because the air is not expelled into the water, few or no bubbles are created.
For recreational divers, this means marine creatures which are scared off by bubbles can be approached more closely - for taking photographs, for instance.
Military divers use rebreathers because the lack of tell-tale bubbles helps them avoid detection.
Dive instructors say there are few rebreather divers in Singapore, because the equipment and training are expensive.
Dr Lim's friends say he was eager to learn how to use the device because of his love of underwater photography. He had been using a rebreather for over a year without incident.
Said Madam Toh: 'He just wanted to keep learning more, and he was always doing the next thing.'
She said her husband had been looking forward to the birth of their second son next month. 'He loved his family... he was a wonderful father.' The couple have a three-year-old son.
She added that he was planning to go on a dive trip to Antarctica next year.
Diving instructor Leon Boey, 30, who got to know Dr Lim through a course he taught in August, called him an 'all-round nice guy' who had a 'very nice smile'.
The divers who were with Dr Lim have returned to Singapore. His body was flown home on Sunday night.
[email protected]
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