Bends danger
ASUVA man who suffered from diver’s “bends” and was temporarily partly paralysed was fighting back to live a normal healthy life — with the help of modern technology in 1987.
An article published by
The Fiji Times on February 7 that year stated Charles Boyle, 34, a businessman and commercial diver suffered from “diver’s bends” or decompression sickness while diving off Beqa Island on January 21.
He was scuba diving with a partner for marine specimens at a depth of about 44 metres.
Mr Boyle recalled feeling “a numbness developing in his legs” during the four hours allowed for resurfacing during deep sea diving.
“The numbness steadily got worse and by the time we reached the hospital, I felt semi-paralysed,” he said.
Decompression sickness occurs when a diver surfaces too fast from the water. Nitrogen in the blood and tissues is liberated as bubbles which, depending on their size and location, cause damage to the body.
In Mr Boyle’s case, the bubbles were lodged in the spinal cord. Doctors at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital did not have the necessary equipment to treat Mr Boyle, who was referred to Dive Center (Fiji) Ltd, which had a decompression chamber to treat the “bends”.
Gus Caine, the owner of Dive Center, said he had the equipment installed to treat his own divers. Mr Boyle was the first patient referred to him from the hospital.
Mr Boyle said he felt no balance from the waist down until he went into the decompression chamber for 5 ½ hours the first time.
The interview was done three weeks ago after his treatment.
Mr Boyle had to take a trip to Dive Center daily for treatment. Once inside the chamber, medical staff subjected him to controlled air pressure, equivalent to 44 metres below water.
Mr Boyle could communicate with people outside with the help of a talk back radio. He had spent the hours reading novels.
The chamber tried to reverse the decompression sickness suffered by Mr Boyle, Mr Caine had said.
“I can walk again, even though there is still a little numbness in my legs and I can return to diving within a few weeks,” Mr Boyle said.
Mr Caine had called for a decompression chamber to be installed at the hospital.
“The number of local overseas divers in our country had increased and there will be other occasions when a decompression chamber will be necessary to save lives,” he said.