Fisherman left paralysed in diving mishap

What started as a routine dive for 23-year-old Andre Daley quickly turned into a medical emergency.

Struck by 'the bends', medically known as decompression sickness, Daley has been left paralysed and facing an uncertain recovery.

"That (fishing) is how I used to make a living. I can't do it now. Right now I am in a little pain and I am back in the hospital," he said.

Decompression sickness occurs when a diver comes up too quickly from deep water. The body absorbs extra nitrogen while underwater, which can form bubbles in the blood and tissues if ascent is too rapid. The condition can cause joint pain, dizziness, paralysis, or more serious complications.

For Daley, who lives in Port Henderson, Portmore, St Catherine, fishing was the job that saved him from a life he did not want.

"It never make sense fi mi just deh yah a do nothing," Daley said. "Other youth mi age, a [consume] weed and rum and deh pon di road. But mi never want dat, so mi tek up fishing."

Daley is no stranger to the sea, but officially became a fisherman approximately five years ago. The trade, he said, was able to provide a steady income for him and his infant daughter. But last September, his life changed forever when friends called him to go to sea. Daley, speaking to THE WEEKEND STAR while sitting on a bed at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), recalled that as he dived that day, his body felt "different". He instantly knew that something was wrong.

"Mi a try catch air and nah get no air. I started to feel a pain in my back. Mi start feel dizzy, mi start feel a tingle in my body. When me jump back I wasn't feeling the pain again. When I returned to the boat and sit down, mi start drink a whole lot a water; mi want to pee and can't pee," Daley recalled. Despite his discomfort, he continued to dive.

"Mi see some lobster and start catch dem now. When mi a come up now, it feel like something a drag me down. Mi say, 'Father God, a can't it this enuh', so I took my time and the captain dragged me [up]. When I got in the boat ... mi realise mi can't feel anything from the waist down," Daley said. He was rushed to the KPH and given oxygen. He was moved to a ward, and then to a decompression chamber in St Ann that helps divers' bodies readjust to normal pressure. He still couldn't feel anything after his first session. But by the second, his feet started to burn.

"Doctors say, 'Yes, that's what we want to hear, the nerves are coming back,'" Daley said. He was discharged later that month but suffered a frightening setback.

"Me start breathe hard, can't breathe properly. I had to be back on oxygen tank and then had to be blowing in gloves on a syringe; and I had to be blowing because they said fluid is in my lungs," he said. Daley now undergoes constant therapy to aid recovery. A doctor in the Cayman Islands advised him that consistent treatment over six months could help. However, travel risks keep him grounded.

"I can't leave because if I go in the aeroplane or so, it will become worse, so I have to get treatment [here]," he said. Thankfully, fellow fishermen have been helping with therapy and support.

"Them come and move up mi foot them for me. Them really helpful; them will bring me go Hellshire Beach and bury me under the sand or give me money to go. Mi fren, mi a tell you, a give me every therapy they can," he said. Today, Daley is still unable to walk but can feel his legs moving.

"Mi foot them start move 'round, but me cya stand up and stretch dem out, but mi can lift dem up," he said. Though uncertain of the future, Daley expressed gratitude for life.

Persons wishing to assist Andre Daley pay for therapy may donate to his GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/93141f1d2.