JUPITER MAN THANKS PEOPLE WHO SAVED HIS LIFE
Jupiter man thanks friend, team that saved his life after diving mishap.
WEST PALM BEACH — Casey Staniszewski describes the ocean waters of the Jupiter Inlet as his “happy place.”
The 19-year-old Jupiter man said he enjoys the Inlet’s serene setting. But a trip there with a friend last month was a moment that was anything but serene.
On the morning of July 9, while free diving and spearfishing with a friend, Staniszewski nearly drowned as he blacked out in about 60 feet of water. On Friday, he returned to
‘I wouldn’t be here today looking at all of you today if it wasn’t for the people in this room.’ Casey Staniszewski
Jupiter man who nearly drowned
St. Mary’s Medical Center to thank the people who helped save his life.
“I wouldn’t be here today looking at all of you today if it wasn’t for the people in this room,” Staniszewski said during a news conference attended by rescue personnel and hospital staff involved in his care. “You saved my life.”
Staniszewski and his friend, 20-year-old Matthew Byrne, were taking turns diving from their boat north of the inlet, about a mile offshore, when Staniszewski failed to surface. Staniszewski said he ran out of oxygen before he could get back to the top.
”I remember the whole day now, from going to the Inlet, setting up,” he said Friday. “I remember the dive,
on my way up and everything started to close out. ... I remember a feeling of helplessness as I was on the way up. I knew I wouldn’t make it up, but I never quit. I went until it was all black.”
Byrne, who realized his friend had been under for too long, dove in and found Staniszewski on the ocean floor. Byrne swam from the ocean floor to the surface while carrying his unconscious friend the entire distance. He got Staniszewski back into the boat, called 911 and began CPR.
”I didn’t really have time to think about it,” Byrne recalled Friday. “I did what I had to do.”
Byrne was given a citizens award during a ceremony in which crews from the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office, Jupiter police marine units and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue also were recognized.
Byrne said he learned CPR in a physical education class at Jupiter High School.
“It could have went either way,” he said. “He would have done the exact same thing I did for him. I don’t think of it as me being a hero. I just did what I had to do.”
Dr. Jose Villarreal, who treated Staniszewski in the intensive care unit, described the teen as a “miracle.”
“I certainly feel like my son is with us because of a number of miracles that hap- pened that day,” Staniszewski’s mother, Chris, said.
“I firmly feel like there were angels with my son as he was brought to the hospital and everything went right from the start to the day he left.”
Casey Staniszewski said that he has been back on the water, but has not gone diving since that day. However, he plans to get back into diving soon.
“I’ll be doing that depth by next May,” he said. “I’ll be back in before the year’s end.”