By DIVE Staff
A scuba diver who lost consciousness underwater was rescued by a group of mermaids-in-training while diving off Catalina Island, California.
Pablo Avila was diving with his friend, Javier Claramunt, and Mr Claramunt’s son, Joshua, when he became unresponsive shorlty before the end of the dive. Experienced divers – Mr Avila and Mr Claramunt Sr had been diving the area since the 1970s – the father and son team began pulling Mr Avila to the shore, when a group of women freedivers dressed as mermaids came to their assistance.
‘We’re pulling him, and we’re getting a little winded and a little tired out and then out of nowhere, a bunch of mermaids show up,’ said Mr Claramunt in an interview with local news station Fox 11. ‘It was something out of a fairy tale, being saved by a mermaid.
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The group of women, wearing mermaid tails – which are, in reality freediving monofins – were participating in a PADI Advanced Mermaid Course when Elaine Garcia of Catalina Island Mermaids, noticed the divers in distress.
‘We were practising our mermaid rescue scenarios,’ said Garcia, herself an experienced dive instructor, ‘ and I see him coughing foam, which is a tell-talle sign of air embolism.’
Garcia helped to remove Mr Avila’s equipment while performing in-water rescue breathing and towing the unconscious diver back to the shore where paramedics were waiting. Avila was transported to Catalina Island’s recompression champer, where he regained consciousness several hours later. Ms Garcia has been credited with saving Avila’s life.
It’s not all bubble kisses,’ she said! ‘And now I know I can rescue a scuba diver while wearing a mermaid tail, which I think is crazy.’
Mr Avila is appears to have recovered well from the incident, laughing and joking with reporters about his experience.
For more information about training as a Mermaid, visit the Mermaid Education pages on PADI’s website. Don’t forget to enter our competition to win a free PADI eLearning programme!
