This deepsea diver was cut off from his air supply for half an hour. He survived

Chris Lemons says the time of the mishap that would astir assertion his beingness started similar immoderate other.

"It was precise overmuch a mean time astatine the office," Lemons told The Current's Matt Galloway. 

For him, "the office" was the water floor, wherever helium spent six hours each time moving arsenic a saturation diver servicing offshore lipid rigs. Saturation divers unrecorded for days to weeks astatine a clip successful pressurized chambers successful bid to enactment astatine the same, precise utmost unit that exists astatine the bottommost of the ocean.

This peculiar occupation recovered him successful the mediate of the North Sea, moving connected a ample operation called an lipid manifold to region a conception of pipeline immoderate 100 metres beneath the surface. 

Lemons was wrong the manifold erstwhile alarms started blaring implicit his connection enactment to the main ship. The supervisor successful bid of the three-person dive squad told Lemons and his colleagues to get backmost instantly to the diving doorbell — a portion of instrumentality attached to the vessel that transports the unit betwixt the vessel and the water floor.

"You could conscionable archer from the code of his dependable that this was thing reasonably … serious," Lemons said. "I don't retrieve truly calculating what was going on, but you could archer thing was afoot."

Topside, a malfunction successful the ship's machine strategy had caused the captains to suffer power of the vessel. Massive waves and winds blew the vas disconnected course, efficaciously dragging the dive doorbell and the divers, who are attached to the doorbell by a 45-metre "umbilical cord" that supplies them life-giving vigor and breathable air.

In the chaotic moments that came next, Lemons' umbilical cord snapped, leaving him stranded without air. He yet mislaid consciousness and was without oxygen for astir fractional an hr — yet by a confluence of fortunate breaks, bully grooming and science, helium walked away unscathed.

The melodramatic communicative has since been turned into a documentary and, astir recently, a diagnostic movie called Last Breath, starring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole and Cliff Curtis.

Running retired of aerial connected the water floor

Lemons was moving underwater with his colleague, David Yuasa, astatine the clip the alarms sounded. Both men were capable to aquatics retired of the manifold, but Lemons rapidly realized his cord had snagged connected a conception of the manifold and helium was incapable to get free.

The stuck diver felt the hostility connected his cablegram turn and turn arsenic the vessel continued to drift successful the unsmooth swell supra him.

"All of a abrupt … I'd go an anchor, basically, to an 8,000 tonne vessel," Lemons said. "And evidently there's lone going to beryllium 1 victor successful that situation."

Yuasa saw Lemons struggling and tried to aquatics backmost toward him. But Yuasa reached the extremity of his cablegram conscionable abbreviated of Lemons. The 2 divers shared 1 last look earlier the inactive out-of-control vessel yanked Yuasa distant from his workfellow and into the acheronian of the heavy oversea water.

Alone, Lemons says his ever-stretching umbilical cord started giving out. He opened the valve to a spare aerial vessel carried connected his back. The reserve would assistance Lemons respire for an further 8 oregon 9 minutes, helium says, though helium knew he'd beryllium successful occupation aft that.

Lemons' umbilical cord yet snapped nether the unit similar "a shotgun going off," helium recalls. The unit sent him tumbling disconnected the apical of the manifold, a fewer metres down to the precise bottommost of the water floor.

He says helium knew his beingness was "on a clock" astatine that point.

WATCH: Trailer for diagnostic movie based connected Lemons' experience

Consumed by panic, the lone diver climbed backmost up connected apical of the lipid operation successful the transportation acheronian and scoured the aboveground for <<signs of? due to the fact that the vessel itself wouldn't person been connected apical of the manifold, right? Wonder if we should tweak to marque definite it's wide helium was not connected the aboveground of the water.>> the boat. It was obscurity to beryllium seen.

In that seminal moment, Lemons says helium realized cipher was astir to prevention him — and redeeming himself wasn't an option.

"That had a strangely calming effect, I think, knowing that I couldn't bash overmuch to assistance myself," Lemons said. "I resigned myself rather rapidly to the information that this was astir apt going to beryllium … the spot that I die."

Lemons laic down successful the fetal presumption connected apical of the structure, wherever helium knew helium had the champion likelihood of being recovered by Yuasa should they ellipse backmost for him.

In what helium thought would beryllium his last moments, helium reflected connected his abbreviated 32 years of beingness and each of the things he'd ne'er bash — similar travel, ain a house, oregon person children. He imagined his parents being informed of his death, and however unusual it would beryllium to dice successful specified an alien environment.

"I grew up successful a benignant of mediate people household successful Cambridge, you know; how've I ended up dying successful this dark, lonely place?" Lemons remembers thinking.

His breathing became hard and soon after, Lemons lost consciousness.

By the clip the unit was capable to regain power of the vessel, ellipse backmost to the dive site, nonstop a driverless submarine with a camera called a ROV down to find Lemons and past person Yuasa execute the rescue, the diver had been severed from his umbilical for astir fractional an hour. That's much than capable clip to origin lasting encephalon damage, if not decease — some of which tin hap successful a substance of minutes.

Lemons isn't overmuch of a believer successful luck oregon miracles, helium says, but this lawsuit mightiness acceptable the bill.

"I usage the connection [luck] rather casually, I think, but yeah, it's hard to contradict that," Lemons said. "I surely consciousness lucky."

Science and precision, not luck

Jochen Schipke, a now-retired prof of physiology in Germany who co-authored a lawsuit study connected however Lemons survived the ordeal, doesn't usage the connection luck. He says it was a substance of "perfection."

Lemons would person utilized much of his disposable aerial close aft his cablegram was severed, erstwhile helium was feeling panicked and had to ascent backmost connected apical of the manifold, according to Schipke. But erstwhile Lemons resigned himself to dying, Schipke says his breathing would person been precise calm, allowing the trapped diver to widen his supply.

The divers were besides breathing a substance of helium and oxygen called heliox, which allows them to support due unit connected the water floor. Schipke says helium cools the body, and its usage is wherefore Lemons' assemblage somesthesia had dropped to astir 27 degrees Celsius by the clip helium was backmost successful the bell. 

The assemblage uses little oxygen astatine colder temperatures, according to Schipke, truthful this origin would person helped agelong Lemons' constricted reserves adjacent further.

The crew's grooming was important, too, according to the researcher. Lemons was successful fantastic carnal signifier and had 10 years of acquisition nether his belt, portion Yuasa, the ROV relation and different unit members each acted rapidly and with precision to rescue Lemons.

"This was adjacent to perfection. Not truthful overmuch luck," Schipke said. "This was training. This was knowledge. This was experience."

Be it by luck, science, perfection oregon immoderate different factor, Lemons says helium is simply gladsome to beryllium alive.

No large epiphanies oregon beingness changes came from the incident, helium says — speech from possibly a "more acute awareness" of death. 

"I've recovered that beingness takes over, really," Lemons said. "Things are rapidly forgotten and you determination connected and the … banalities of beingness abruptly instrumentality over."

Within 3 weeks of the accident, helium was backmost to enactment arsenic a diver — a occupation helium went connected to bash for 10 much years. These days, Lemons gives talks astir his communicative astatine conferences. He besides inactive works successful the industry, but arsenic a dive supervisor instead.

"I enactment successful the adust and the safe," Lemons said. "And I'm rather relieved to accidental so."