A 30-year-old diver is recovering at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre (SLBMC) after suffering severe decompression sickness during a deep-sea dive.
Kemoy Roberts was rushed to hospital after the incident, experiencing weakness, dizziness, hearing loss and loss of mobility.
Doctors began urgent treatment with oxygen therapy before carrying out two sessions in the hospital’s Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber, which proved life-saving.
Mr Roberts has since regained strength, though medical teams say his recovery journey is not yet complete. He will require further rehabilitative care in the coming weeks.
His mother described the ordeal as an emotional experience, saying it was “difficult to see him after the incident”, but she expressed gratitude for his progress and for the medical staff who treated him.
The Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber at SLBMC was donated by the Calvin Ayre Foundation. Hospital officials said it has been vital in treating emergency cases such as Mr Roberts’.
In a statement, SLBMC said: “This is more than medicine—it’s compassion, teamwork and resilience in action. Together, we heal.”
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Calvin Ayre and his team, must be commended for having made this donation. I do hope and pray that whatever needs to be done to maintain this equipment will be done.
I am happy that this young man is recovering.
We have heard over the years about the rigors of deep sea diving when our fisher folk are looking for conchs. Are we doing this in the safest way possible?
I am completely ignorant about what diving for conchs entails but it is mostly conch divers who seem to encounter the problem which we commonly call ‘The Bends’. Are there any guardrails that can be utilized for the safety of these divers. Is it that there is a depth to which they should not be free diving, a depth in which tanks are a necessity and if so how long should they stay. I do not know, I am just asking.
Glad you have recovered, but I hope you knew Pryor before taking up this profession it’s highly possible this might happen.