A diver has succeeded in his attempt to make the deepest dive by a blind person, with a dive to 103m at Dahab, in Egypt.

Mark Threadgold, 38, from Brighton, trimix-dived on an Inspiration closed-circuit rebreather, specially adapted by manufacturer Ambient Pressure to make its controls usable through sound rather than vision.

Threadgold dived with Britons Paul Jackman, Mark Elliott, Sally Cartwright and Ian Hanness, experienced rebreather divers who helped train him in Britain, and travelled with him to Dahab's Blue Hole for the two-hour dive.

Other support divers were Sarah Hanness, Adrian Shenstone, Nick Barron, John Rudolf and Helen Mutter. A staff member from the St Dunstan's care charity also flew to Dahab to assist the project.

The dive beat Threadgold's previous personal best by some 30m, and added to his other marine records - fastest blind person on water, with a 99.19mph powerboat run on Lake Windermere, and fastest blind circumnavigator of the Isle of Wight.

Threadgold was supported by St Dunstan's, Neilson Active Holidays, O'Three, Ambient Pressure Diving, Analox, Decochek, Kent Tooling & Components, and Delta P Technology.

A former Royal Corps of Signals sergeant and father of two, Threadgold lost his sight in 1999 after suffering head injuries in an accident.

His desire is that the dive will raise the profile of St Dunstan's, founded in 1915 to support blind ex-servicemen and women, and which played a central role in his own rehabilitation.

Related links
Preparations - Diver magazine feature
St Dunstan's

News Index Page