This deepsea diver was cut off from his air supply for half an hour. He survived

Chris Lemons says the day of the accident that will almost declare his life began like every other.

“It was very a lot a standard day on the workplace,” Lemons advised The Present‘s Matt Galloway. 

For him, “the workplace” was the ocean flooring, the place he spent six hours every day working as a saturation diver servicing offshore oil rigs. Saturation divers reside for days to weeks at a time in pressurized chambers so as to keep on the similar, very excessive strain that exists on the backside of the ocean.

This specific job discovered him in the course of the North Sea, engaged on a big construction referred to as an oil manifold to take away a piece of pipeline some 100 metres under the floor. 

Lemons was contained in the manifold when alarms began blaring over his communication line to the primary ship. The supervisor in control of the three-person dive workforce advised Lemons and his colleagues to get again instantly to the diving bell — a bit of kit hooked up to the ship that transports the crew between the boat and the ocean flooring.

“You would simply inform from the tone of his voice that this was one thing pretty … critical,” Lemons mentioned. “I do not keep in mind actually calculating what was happening, however you would inform one thing was afoot.”

Topside, a malfunction within the ship’s laptop system had prompted the captains to lose management of the vessel. Huge waves and winds blew the vessel off target, successfully dragging the dive bell and the divers, who’re hooked up to the bell by a 45-metre “umbilical wire” that provides them life-giving warmth and breathable air.

Within the chaotic moments that got here subsequent, Lemons’ umbilical wire snapped, leaving him stranded with out air. He ultimately misplaced consciousness and was with out oxygen for about half an hour — but by a confluence of fortunate breaks, good coaching and science, he walked away unscathed.

The dramatic story has since been changed into a documentary and, most not too long ago, a function movie referred to as Final Breath, starring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole and Cliff Curtis.

Operating out of air on the ocean flooring

Lemons was working underwater together with his colleague, David Yuasa, on the time the alarms sounded. Each males have been capable of swim out of the manifold, however Lemons shortly realized his wire had snagged on a piece of the manifold and he was unable to get free.

The caught diver felt the stress on his cable develop and develop because the ship continued to float within the tough swell above him.

“Hastily … I would grow to be an anchor, mainly, to an 8,000 tonne vessel,” Lemons mentioned. “And clearly there’s solely going to be one winner in that state of affairs.”

Yuasa noticed Lemons struggling and tried to swim again towards him. However Yuasa reached the tip of his cable simply wanting Lemons. The 2 divers shared one ultimate look earlier than the nonetheless out-of-control boat yanked Yuasa away from his colleague and into the darkness of the deep sea water.

Alone, Lemons says his ever-stretching umbilical wire began giving out. He opened the valve to a spare air tank carried on his again. The reserve would assist Lemons breathe for an extra eight or 9 minutes, he says, although he knew he’d be in bother after that.

Lemons’ umbilical wire lastly snapped underneath the strain like “a shotgun going off,” he recollects. The power despatched him tumbling off the highest of the manifold, a couple of metres all the way down to the very backside of the ocean flooring.

He says he knew his life was “on a clock” at that time.

WATCH: Trailer for function movie primarily based on Lemons’ expertise

Consumed by panic, the lone diver climbed again up on high of the oil construction within the pitch darkish and scoured the floor for the boat. It was nowhere to be seen.

In that seminal second, Lemons says he realized no one was round to save lots of him — and saving himself wasn’t an choice.

“That had a unusually calming impact, I feel, figuring out that I could not do a lot to assist myself,” Lemons mentioned. “I resigned myself fairly shortly to the truth that this was most likely going to be … the place that I die.”

Lemons lay down within the fetal place on high of the construction, the place he knew he had one of the best odds of being discovered by Yuasa ought to they circle again for him.

In what he thought can be his ultimate moments, he mirrored on his quick 32 years of life and the entire issues he’d by no means do — like journey, personal a home, or have kids. He imagined his dad and mom being knowledgeable of his dying, and the way unusual it will be to die in such an alien atmosphere.

“I grew up in a kind of center class household in Cambridge, you recognize; how’ve I ended up dying on this darkish, lonely place?” Lemons remembers pondering.

His respiration turned tough and shortly after, Lemons misplaced consciousness.

By the point the crew was capable of regain management of the vessel, circle again to the dive web site, ship a driverless submarine with a digicam referred to as a ROV all the way down to find Lemons after which have Yuasa carry out the rescue, the diver had been severed from his umbilical for about half an hour. That is greater than sufficient time to trigger lasting mind harm, if not dying — each of which may occur in a matter of minutes.

Lemons is not a lot of a believer in luck or miracles, he says, however this case may match the invoice.

“I take advantage of the phrase [luck] fairly casually, I feel, however yeah, it is laborious to disclaim that,” Lemons mentioned. “I definitely really feel fortunate.”

Science and precision, not luck

Jochen Schipke, a now-retired professor of physiology in Germany who co-authored a case report on how Lemons survived the ordeal, does not use the phrase luck. He says it was a matter of “perfection.”

Lemons would have used extra of his obtainable air proper after his cable was severed, when he was feeling panicked and needed to climb again on high of the manifold, in line with Schipke. However as soon as Lemons resigned himself to dying, Schipke says his respiration would have been very calm, permitting the trapped diver to increase his provide.

The divers have been additionally respiration a combination of helium and oxygen referred to as heliox, which permits them to keep up correct strain on the ocean flooring. Schipke says helium cools the physique, and its use is why Lemons’ physique temperature had dropped to about 27 levels Celsius by the point he was again within the bell. 

The physique makes use of much less oxygen at colder temperatures, in line with Schipke, so this issue would have helped stretch Lemons’ restricted reserves even additional.

The crew’s coaching was vital, too, in line with the researcher. Lemons was in unbelievable bodily form and had 10 years of expertise underneath his belt, whereas Yuasa, the ROV operator and different crew members all acted shortly and with precision to rescue Lemons.

“This was near perfection. Not a lot luck,” Schipke mentioned. “This was coaching. This was information. This was expertise.”

Be it by luck, science, perfection or every other issue, Lemons says he’s merely glad to be alive.

No nice epiphanies or life adjustments got here from the incident, he says — except for perhaps a “extra acute consciousness” of dying. 

“I’ve discovered that life takes over, actually,” Lemons mentioned. “Issues are shortly forgotten and you progress on and the … banalities of existence instantly take over.”

Inside three weeks of the accident, he was again to work as a diver — a job he went on to do for 10 extra years. As of late, Lemons provides talks about his story at conferences. He additionally nonetheless works within the trade, however as a dive supervisor as an alternative.

“I keep within the dry and the protected,” Lemons mentioned. “And I am fairly relieved to say so.”