"STAGING A DIVER"

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 301, 4 December 1936, Page 6

"STAGING A DIVER"

FOR PARALYSIS. I ' ~ ; ALL DAY UNDER WATER. I Roy Williams aged miout 21, a i pearlshell diver, who became paralvstd I while diving tor peailshell in deep ! water on Bathurst Island peari.i.g I grounds last week, is undergoing trialI inent. lie spent Saturday and ,o u::y | suspended in diving dress in Dan. » ! Harbour, where he is being “scigcd” I under the supervision, of Dr. W. B. • Kirkland. Williams was working on one ot J. ;B. Carpeater and Sons’ pearling I ketches. He comes from Thin . day Is | land. On Thursday morning A iltiams J became paralysed while mi the pe.iDi ing grounds. His boat brought hin 1 into Darwin, the trip taking t'\o dry* I When lie arrived on Saturday mmmm'. Dr. Kirkland ordered Williams to <>c “staged’’ in diving dre s in the ha: hour at varying depths to tilbeu. fathoms (ninety feet:. All day lot:* I the lugger from which Wili ams n.-i.-suspended was anchored in the i-han net of the harbour. Jn Dahn da

night he was brought from the natei and rested on the lugger, 'mt this morning was again pm down. Ils* r resting on the boat to-night, a..d wili be su pcnd.'d in tho water ag.'iin to morrow. A slight improvement in his conditio,n has been observed. This treatment is th > only a. e avail able, since Darwin has ro decompression chamber in which divers’ paralysis is treated. All the pearling ketches operatinj on the Bathurst Is'and grounds an over deep wati r. The divers ’ire m seending to depths of 25 fathoms They are able to work inly a fev. hours a day. Tho rest of the da; light is used to “stage’’ tlii’in on ,'.e descent ami asient to prevent paraty sis.