Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Thursday, May 02, 2024

Atlanta woman dies after diving accident in Ginnie Springs

A woman died Monday morning at Shands at UF after she was found unresponsive at Ginnie Springs June 14.

Shannon Lewis, a 20-year-old student from Atlanta, went cave diving at the springs with two other divers, said Deputy Tracy Taylor with the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office.

She was having trouble equalizing the pressure in her ears, and her friends took her back to the entrance of the cave, which was more shallow at 20 feet deep, Taylor said.

The two divers went back in the cave, leaving her at the entrance where she was found unresponsive by a passing diver who noticed her face looking up at him, he said.

When two passing divers got her back to the platform, she wasn't breathing, her lips were blue, and she had no pulse.

"What happened down there, we still don't really know," Taylor said.

A doctor from Tampa, a respiratory therapist, a Gainesville EMT and two men with CPR training helped her before she was flown to Shands.

Taylor has stayed in touch with Lewis' family throughout the incident.

"She had a little too much of a fight on her hands, and her body couldn't take it," Taylor said.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox
Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.