Tenn. diver dies in Florida sinkhole

[Wayne Harrison]

Rebecca Harden, 54, of Hickson, Tenn., died Friday in a scuba diving accident in Ocala, Florida.

Harden was with a group scuba diving at 40 Fathom Grotto. The group had gone down about 150 feet. As the group was coming to the surface, they would stop at different levels, approximately every 15 feet.

At one of the stages, according to officials, the instructor noticed that Harden was not with the group. He said he saw bubbles and descended to where she was, then brought her to the surface.

Following a call to 911, Marion County Fire Rescue responded to the scene. Harden was transported to Munroe Regional Medical Center. Rescuers performed CPR on her from the time they arrived on scene to the hospital, officials said.

Harden was pronounced at the hospital. The cause of death will be determined from an autopsy. Officials collected the woman's diving gear as part of the investigation.

[Scott McCrea]

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[Evan Gehring]

same

[wendy]

This is not a cave diving location and there is no mention if she was a caver. 40 fathom grotto is a technical/deep diving training area.

[Squirrel Girl]

Whew! I thought for sure that it was going to be a report of someone I know (or know of).

Yeah, it's a big deep sinkhole, mostly just not an overhead environment, though I think there are a few places you can have a ceiling. Mostly, as Wendy says, it just a training spot of deep/technical diving.

It's very sad for the woman and her family. My condolences to all.

[Squirrel Girl]

I went ahead a changed the title on thread (as a moderator). It was misleading and almost caused my heart to skip a beat.

[adleedy]

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