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August 2000

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Subject:
From:
"M. Bevelhimer" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
SouthEast US Scuba Diving Travel list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 11 Aug 2000 12:20:08 -0400
Content-Type:
text/plain
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text/plain (139 lines)
Here's the latest news on Ron Fuller's death.  This is from the San Diego
Union Tribune (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/index.html)
We weren't the only ones he impressed with his friendliness.
-Mark B.
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Divers recover body off La Jolla

                  Victim was well-known in San Diego diving circles

                  By Gregory Alan Gross
                  UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

                  August 11, 2000

                  The body of a popular diver and Web page designer, whose
disappearance
                  Wednesday shook San Diego's tightly knit diving
community, was found
                  yesterday afternoon off La Jolla Shores.

                  Friends of Ron Fuller, 51, spent several hours in the
water off La Jolla Shores
                  yesterday afternoon, scouring the bottom from the murky
shallows to depths
                  approaching 200 feet.

                  But it was San Diego lifeguard divers who located
Fuller's body in 50 feet,
                  directly off La Jolla Shores, said volunteer search
divers who were in the
                  water with the lifeguards when the body was found.

                  Fuller's wife reported around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday that he
had left home at 9
                  a.m. to go diving and had not returned. She told
lifeguards that he had gone
                  diving alone and was using a rebreather, an underwater
breathing apparatus
                  designed to recycle breathing air by "scrubbing" out
carbon-dioxide.

                  Authorities found Fuller's car in the La Jolla Shores
Beach parking lot
                  Wednesday. Lifeguards used boats and paddleboards to
search the area until
                  dark, then resumed the search with dive teams yesterday
morning as
                  volunteers watched.

                  At midday, they allowed the volunteers into the water to
search on their own.
                  Others waited onshore.

                  Wading in and out of the water in their bulky suits and
breathing apparatus,
                  they were an incongruous sight among the sunbathers and
laughing children
                  splashing in the surf at La Jolla Shores.

                  Fuller was well-known around San Diego not only as a
diver but as a Web
                  page designer and host. Among local divers, Fuller's Web
page on San Diego
                  diving is considered a virtual bible on the sport.

                  "He had a heart of gold; he was always trying to help,"
said one woman who
                  identified herself only as Leslie, a sport diver for the
last five years who had
                  dived with Fuller.

                  Perry Armor and Toni Barnhart, both of Poway, were among
those who went
                  out yesterday to look for their friend.

                  "We were in the gym (Wednesday) working out, and Toni
looked up and
                  said, 'Ron Fuller's on TV; he's missing,' " Armor said.

                  An auto accident in 1991, a collision with a drunken
driver in East County,
                  had left Fuller with a steel rod in one leg, but it never
deterred him from the
                  hobby he loved so much, Armor said.

                  "It put him out of commission for a while," Armor said.
"He had to get around
                  with a cane. But he did really well, and he continued to
dive."

                  Although he was diving alone Wednesday morning, Fuller
was anything but
                  reckless, Barnhart said.

                  "He was not a thrill seeker," she said. "He was very
safety-conscious. If he
                  was diving by himself, he wasn't doing anything radical."

                  Nonetheless, Fuller had had recent problems with the
rebreather, which he
                  had assembled from a kit.

                  Rebreathers initially were developed for the military
because they allow divers
                  to swim underwater without giving off telltale bubbles.

                  They are still in use today by Navy SEAL commandos and
other special
                  forces, and civilian versions are being adopted by
recreational divers.
                  However, their use carries risks.

                  A malfunction in his rebreather had forced Fuller to
abort a dive about two
                  weeks ago on the Canadian destroyer Yukon, sunk off
Mission Beach last
                  month, Armor said. If the unit suddenly began feeding
Fuller pure oxygen
                  underwater, it may have killed him, he said.

                  "Pure oxygen becomes toxic once you get beyond (a depth
of) 33 feet,"
                  Armor said. "The problem with rebreathers is that they
may inadvertently
                  deliver oxygen at the wrong depth.

                  "Ron was aware of that. But, if that's what happened, he
may have realized it
                  too late."

                  Fuller discussed the rebreather unit on his Web page,
                  http://www.diegoweb.com/diving.

                  "I'll write up a full page later in the summer or the
fall," he wrote. "But first, I
                  have to get a few hours with the rig."

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