Until death do us part

The six of us took the hour boat ride out to the Red Reef. Our group diving vacation was just beginning. One by one we entered the cool water and began our exploration of the world below. Then it all went wrong.

The purple fan coral was elegant and swayed gracefully in the current. Orange, yellow, red and black sponges stretched from the sea floor upward to the sun. Boulders of hard corals stood as ancient underwater sentries. Bubbles escaped from breathing regulators and charged their way skyward.

A five foot long barracuda jutted in and out of the huge brain coral. The erratic movement caught my attention as it behaved like a shark. Nearby two divers appeared to be in struggle. A second look and it was evident. Someone was in trouble.

Beth rolled Keith over. His regulator was out of his mouth and he was not breathing. She checked her depth. 25 feet. It was time to ascend. Now. She hit the button to test adding air to his buoyancy control device (BCD). She clipped herself to him, dropped his weight belt, filled the BCDs and returned to the surface.

I grabbed Susan and pointed upward indicating a need to ascend. Then I swam over to Bill and urgently pointed upward again. Luckily we were only at 25 feet so we all could quickly ascend back to the unknown.

Beth yelled for help as soon as they popped up to the surface. The dive boat was moored twenty yards away which seemed like miles while dragging a 200 pound adult. Susan and I swam to Beth to help her get Keith to the boat. How long had it been so far? I pushed the thought out of my head.

Bill and Sharon waited at the boat to help hoist Keith aboard. We kept his head above the water and pulled him along the best we could. Beth started to lose her composure as she started to lose steam.

"Keep it together. We're almost there, Beth," I struggled to say as we worked against the waves. A line hit me in the head and I grabbed it and let the two on the boat pull me and Keith to the swim platform.

We started undressing Keith to make it easier to get him on board. Pulling his BCD off was frustratingly slow and cumbersome. "Come on," I yelled to no one in particular while Bill, Susan and Sharon worked to pull the heavy tank and vest off of our friend. Those on the boat struggled to pull Keith aboard as we pushed him from the stern of the boat.

He was laid on his back and his wet suit was unzipped. The boat captain and mate started CPR as the boat pitched about in the waves. The pace was a bit frantic but steady. We helped each other stow our tanks and watched the minutes tick by.

It was brutal to keep up CPR and more brutal to stop. No one wanted to say stop but everyone knew it was time. The work continued on Keith until everyone looked at each other and gave the final word silently.

Beth sat close by and watched but I could see her composure was cracking again. I sat next to her with my arm around her, I pulled her close. "I'm so sorry," I whispered in her ear. "I'm so, so sorry."

Beth slid off the bench and onto the deck next to Keith. She took his left hand in hers and fiddled with his wedding ring like she always did. A ring she had put on his finger ten years before.