Paralyzed in Grenada
Soon after surfacing from her first dive of the day, Deborah Newman felt a spasm in her upper back followed by a squeezing sensation in her chest, hypersensitive skin, weakness and nausea.

Soon after surfacing from her first dive of the day, Deborah Newman felt a spasm in her upper back followed by a squeezing sensation in her chest, hypersensitive skin, weakness and nausea.
While trying to eat a fish for lunch, a shark accidentally nipped a diver’s hand instead. The injury was bloody but thankfully, DAN provided needed assistance and guidance.
My buddy and I ascended to 20 feet for our safety stop. As soon as we surfaced I thought I saw the boat moving away from me but quickly realized I was disoriented. It felt like vertigo, but I managed to get on board the boat. I removed my gear and was talking to my buddy when I started involuntarily leaning forward until I lost my balance and collapsed face-down on the deck. I felt paralyzed and couldn’t get up.
While on a trip to Tahiti, a 71-year-old experienced diver and competitive rower coughed up foamy blood after making three recreational dives on nitrox. He called DAN for advice and later saw a cardiologist, who diagnosed him with exercise-induced mitral valve prolapse. This diver recommends that divers continue to educate themselves, maintain their DAN membership and insurance coverage, go slowly if they haven’t dived in a while, be prepared and practice for emergencies.
A DAN member and dive instructor’s routine day was faced with setback after setback. She ended up needing a hyperbaric treatment. Read more about how DAN helped this member.
I HAVE BEEN A CERTIFIED DIVER since 1986 and have logged hundreds of recreational and technical dives. Since 2014 I have primarily been doing technical rebreather diving with a close group of experienced rebreather divers from Northern California. During the summer of 2019, our group visited Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Michigan […]
A ruptured appendix ruined what should have been a fantastic whale adventure. Thanks to DAN, the adventurer was able to receive life-saving evacuation and care. Read more about this DAN member’s story.
DAN not only provides emergency resources to divers, but sailors, too. Read one couple’s harrowing story of a concussion at sea and how DAN was able to provide assistance.
I WAS ON A TRIP TO TULAMBEN to dive the Liberty wreck for three days. The first day was recreational dives followed by two days of technical diving. I had a cold and sinusitis leading up to the trip, but the conditions had cleared up …
Doctors and other specialists were not listening to one DAN member. After experiencing symptoms for weeks, he finally called DAN and was lead to a diagnosis.