DATELINE: 24 January, 2002

REBREATHER INQUEST VERDICT
An inquest into the death of Inspiration rebreather diver Paul Haydon has returned a verdict of accidental death. The diver was lost on the wreck of the Afric off Plymouth in May 1998 and was found to have died from hypoxia.
The inquest was held in Plymouth and is the third to report on the death of a diver using an Inspiration.
Haydon's body was found at 69m on the wreck, in a relaxed position. His oxygen cylinder was empty, and medical evidence suggested that he had carried on breathing for several hours after becoming unconscious.
The inquest found that the valves on his oxygen supply were loose and leaking because the regulator had not been sufficiently well screwed into the DIN fitting on the oxygen cylinder. This would presumably have happened when the unit was assembled for use prior to the dive. There was no suggestion of a manufacturing fault.
The inquest decided that, on the balance of probabilities, it was the loose regulator valve that had led to the loss of Haydon's oxygen supply. This had led to the mixture of gas that he was breathing becoming hypoxic.

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