Crime & Safety

Scuba Diver, 50, Dies After Having Breathing Issues Near La Jolla Shores

NBC San Diego said man was on his first dive with a training class held by Ocean Enterprises.

A novice scuba diver reported breathing problems during a group outing Saturday near La Jolla Shores and died, police said.

KNSD reported that the 50-year-old student diver had been in shallow water of 20 feet with three other students and two instructors. The man, on his first scuba dive, signaled underwater that something was wrong.  

Ocean Enterprises was in charge of the training, the NBC station said. It said it was firest fatality in decades of offering classes.

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Lifeguards were alerted to the diver, who was reportedly having difficulty about 8:30 a.m., according to city lifeguard Lt. John Everhart.

San Diego police said the diver reported having trouble breathing a few minutes after returning to the boat from a dive.

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The diver was in "very serious medical condition," when lifeguards and his fellow divers brought him to shore, where lifeguards began CPR, Everhart said.

He was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, Everhart said.

San Diego police said he later died. They believed a health issue led to the death, not a scuba or drowning accident.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to determine his cause of death.

—City News Service contributed to this report.


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