Are Darwin Awards still a thing?

[Scooter]

Man Drowns During Underwater Marriage Proposal At Exclusive Hotel Resort

A woman has shared eerie video of her fiance's last moments, saying he "died while being extra" in an underwater proposal stunt gone wrong.
Kenesha Antoine, a lawyer from Baton Rouge in the American state of Louisiana, shared a heartbreaking post on social media with photos and videos of the "beautiful soul" that was her partner, Steven Weber.

The pair had travelled to the exclusive Manta Resort, a hotel at Pemba Island, off the coast of Tanzania. They stayed in cabin anchored in the ocean, with underwater aquarium-style windows giving visitors a look under the sea. Weber had dived into the ocean to press a note against the window, asking Antoine to marry him.

Video posted showed he only used a face mask and no breathing equipment. Antoine said he died during the proposal.


The note Weber showed during the marriage proposal. Photo: Facebook

"You never emerged from those depths, so you never got to hear my answer, “Yes! Yes! A million times, yes, I will marry you!!”," she wrote in a long message alongside the photos and video.

"We never got to embrace and celebrate the beginning of the rest of our lives together, as the best day of our lives turned into the worst, in the cruellest twist of fate imaginable."

Video posted by Antoine shows her laughing as Weber presses a hand-written proposal note against the glass, then pulls out a box to show her a ring.

The note read, in part: "I can't hold my breath long enough to tell you everything I love about you. But… everything I love about you I love more every day!"

"Will you please be my wife?"

The video ends with Weber swimming back toward the surface. It is unclear exactly how he died.

Antoine wrote that the couple had seen the trip as a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience.

"I will try to take solace in the fact that we enjoyed the most amazing bucket list experiences these past few days, and that we both were so happy and absolutely giddy with excitement in our final moments together," she wrote.

"There are no words adequate enough to honour the beautiful soul that is Steven Weber, Jr. You were a bright light to everyone you encountered. You never met a stranger, and you brought so much joy to so many people."

"You were kind, compassionate, you regularly made me cry with laughter, and you showered me with a love like none I’d ever experienced."

The resort reportedly told the BBC the man had "tragically drowned while free diving alone outside the underwater room" on Thursday afternoon. The resort's CEO said hotel staff were "shaken to the core" by the incident. The BBC reported that the U.S. Department of State was aware of the death of a citizen in Tanzania.

"I will find you and marry you in the next lifetime, and the next, and the next, and the next... I love you so much, and I always will," Antoine said.

"He’s probably entertaining someone with a story about how he royally screwed up that proposal and died while being extra."

[Bicycle Bill]

I saw this too and wondered how he could have drowned.  Most people who are drowning will thrash their way to the surface ... unless they are already unconscious.  Another article mentioned that the man may have suffered something called a 'hypoxic fit':

Two of the biggest risks to freedivers are caused by low oxygen levels in the body due to a combination of a long breath hold and other factors.  Low oxygen levels (or hypoxia to give its proper name) can result in a blackout or a hypoxic fit.

A blackout is a complete loss of consciousness brought on by hypoxia and can happen underwater (such as a shallow water blackout), on the surface, and even after thirty seconds of poor recovery breathing.  It can come on with no warning signs or symptoms and a freediver suffering one might not even be aware that it has taken place.

Some people worry that a blackout will result directly in damage to the brain, but if the freediver is brought back to consciousness quickly then this will not be the case.  A blackout is actually your body’s way of protecting the brain and other vital organs by losing consciousness.

Related to a blackout is a hypoxic fit.  This is a loss of motor control in the body, ranging from the subtle (a trembling of your hands, for example) to the severe, such as a full-body convulsion.  In the past, freedivers have sometimes referred to it as a ‘samba’ because it can look like the dance of that name.  A hypoxic fit always happens on the surface after a dive or breath hold and can be followed by a recovery or a full blackout.  Again, it can come on without warning and afterward the sufferer is usually unaware that it has happened.

The risk factors causing a blackout and hypoxic fit can be many, and it is when multiple factors come into play that the likelihood increases of suffering one.  These are some of the main causes of blackout and hypoxic fit:

Hyperventilation ... Any form of over-breathing, even too-quick complete ventilation, will reduce levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, thus reducing your body’s urge to breathe.  Without a strong urge to breathe, you can risk pushing your dive too far and blacking out due to low levels of oxygen.  Hyperventilation also raises the heart rate, increases the speed at which the body burns oxygen, reduces blood flow to the brain, and causes oxygen to bond more strongly to hemoglobin, thus making it harder to access by the tissues that need it.

Poor recovery breaths ... Many freedivers breathe poorly after a dive and this can lead to a blackout or hypoxic fit.  Often the diver focuses on a forceful exhale, removing most of the air from their lungs — air that still contains vital oxygen — rather than inhaling fresh air with only a passive exhalation.  A diver can breathe incorrectly for 30 seconds and then still blackout, so it is vital for the buddy to stay right by the diver until they are completely recovered.  (btw, I didn't see his buddy or anyone else in the picture.  Basic rule violation #1: Never swim alone!)

Other possible causes cited by the article I found included stress, bad technique, inexperience, and over-ambition (diving to a depth beyond one's ability), but I think one of the two I cited were the most logical and likely reasons.

I had never heard of anything like this before, even during my earlier days when I was qualified as a lifeguard and Water Safety Instructor.  So I wouldn't necessarily class this as a Darwin Award incident; more a case of someone biting off far more than they could chew because, well, who knew?

-"BB"-

[RayThom]

For the most part, it would appear that good ol' Steve died a happy man.

Here's the happy couple, no doubt prior to the ill fated dive.

[ex-khobar Andy]

During SCUBA training (I was a CMAS two star instructor - I suppose I still am but I haven't done any for 35 years) we were taught the danger of hyperventilation in free diving. It's one of those things where a little knowledge can kill you. The urge to breathe is triggered by by the CO2 level in the blood. If you know that, a reasonable person might think that you can increase your time underwater by taking lot of deep breaths rapidly, thereby reducing the blood CO2 level and raising the time for it to get up to the 'gotta breathe now' signal to the brain. Unfortunately, as the piece that BB posted makes clear, it doesn't work like that.

It looks as if these 'underwater room' are no more than 10 feet or so below the surface. The windows are huge - 3 feet square or so judging from some of the picture so even at just 10 feet the pressure on each window is something like 5000 pounds or 2.5 tons. No-one should get into trouble free diving to 10 feet unless there is an underlying medical condition or if he just blacked out due to hyperventilation.

[BoSoxGal]

This story is just heartbreaking - the world needs more people with gentle hearts like his and instead he is taken far too soon.

I can’t agree this is a Darwin Award, because there is no jackass aspect to his actions whatsoever. I know plenty of intelligent people who wouldn’t suspect they’d be putting themselves at risk doing such a shallow free dive. He must have become hypoxic and his body reflexively gasped for breath, allow water into his lungs - that’s my guess. A mere teaspoon of water in the lungs is enough to drown, which is why secondary drowning is such a problem (but one which many people are ignorant about).

[MGMcAnick]

The video made it appear as though she was having trouble reading his proposal. Thin paper, visibly bleeding through, it may have been wet inside the plastic bag. Still, very sad. Should not have happened.