IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO WERE LOST
This page is dedicated to those who have lost their lives from underwater breath-holding. If you have lost a loved one to an underwater blackout or breath-holding, please email us with the person’s name, photo and a short bio and we will include it on this site.
David died on January 9, 2021 in Palm Springs, California. He was practicing the Wim Hof
breathing methods in a swimming pool at the time of his drowning. He was a very athletic man
who simply didn’t understand the details of why doing this practice in water was dangerous.
15-year-old Will was swimming laps in a shallow pool just to see how many he could do without surfacing for air. He'd finished one semester at his new high school, Creighton Prep, where he planned to try out for the soccer team. He loved his life.
Jonathan Wade Hurtley, 21, a lifelong Marco Islander, passed away on May 22, 2023 in Cape Coral, Florida three days after an accident in a local pool. He was an avid swimmer, having learned to swim independently at two years old. On May 19th, he had been engaged in a routine water workout in a gym pool, exercising his lung capacity. He didn’t have a spotter watching him, lost consciousness while underwater, and never recovered.
Madelyn (known to friends and family as “Maddie”) was a kind and caring teenager who was loved by everyone who knew her. Maddie was very positive and supportive of her friends;
On Feb 2, 2022, my husband was doing his pretty regular routine of ice water baths (5-7 min long) and then plunging into our hot tub immediately afterward. He would generally do this process twice, moving from cold to hot.
Cash Whitsell was at a friend's house in the pool playing a breath-holding game when he passed out, by the time his friend realized he wasn't holding his breath anymore it was too late.
Luke Walley, a fit young man of 27 and a wonderful human being, died of shallow water blackout in a pool in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on the 5th February 2020
Maddisyn was known as the real life Moana. She looked like her, she loved the ocean, she loved swimming period!
We lost Eduardo Jose Perez at the young age of 19 on August 23, as he was entering his sophomore year in college at University of Tampa. A freak accident, right in our backyard pool, as he was hyperventilating while competing doing under water laps. He was “competing” ….
On Friday May 13 2016 we got the message that no one ever hopes for. Our 33-year-old son Luuk had drowned in the pool at his apartment. How was it possible that our strong and healthy Luuk, who loved water sports, could drown?
Carlos Alberto Winkel died on March 26th 2017, at the age of 33, from the result of shallow water blackout. Carlos and his girlfriend emigrated in February 2016 from the Netherlands to Curacao, his beloved island where he was born, to start a career as a lawyer in a Caribbean law firm.
We believe that Scott died as a result of shallow water blackout on February 22, 2017 at the edge of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve near the small Mayan fishing village of Punta Allen, Quintana Roo, Mexico - a place he loved more than anywhere in the world, doing what he loved most.
Tim Wilt (6/24/1990 - 8/27/2016) was an incredible human being, son, brother, and friend. He loved people, life, adventure, and pushing himself to do better. Trying to set another personal record for holding his breath underwater, Tim succumbed to shallow water blackout on August 21, 2016 and died six days later from severe brain damage.
On July 9th 2016 just ten days from marrying the love of his life Lindsey, Papa had a fatal diving accident which was the result of shallow water blackout. Our entire family is devastated and we continue to ask ourselves how this could of happened when papa was such a skilled swimmer/diver/spearman.
May 1, 1981 - May 7, 2012
Greg died from shallow water blackout while spear fishing off Moreton Island Queensland Australia on 7th May 2012.
Benjamin Craig (Benjo) Haller died on August 1, 2014 at the age of 27. Benjo died in seven feet of water off the shore of Eleuthera Island, Bahamas while doing underwater breath holding drills to increase his time under water for spear fishing.
Jack Alexander Kevin MacMillan (October 11, 2000 – January 29, 2013) Twelve year old Jack is described by his family as “a beautiful, gentle, loving, caring young man. He was passionate about sports. He played soccer and cricket from a young age.
Gabriel Eric Moore – (August 12,1996 – July 25, 2012) Gabriel accidentally drowned July 25th, 2012 in a swimming pool while he was doing underwater breath holding drills. He was attempting to beat his own time underwater.
James Alexander (October 26th, 1987-April 20th, 2012) James was born Oct. 26, 1987, in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of Nancy B. Alexander of New Bern and Dr. L. George Alexander Jr. James attended Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, N.C., for several years of elementary school before the family moved to New Bern in 1995.
Vincent Casper Lemmer, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Vincent Lemmer died on December 11. 2011, At age 21. He was a qualified Dive Master and loved to be under the water. He was enjoying a fun day with his friends, practicing diving in a scuba training pool.
Bohdan Vitenko and Jonathan Proce These two boys, both age 21, died while doing a Navy SEAL training exercise. Jonathan Proce, of Sunnyside and Bohdan Vitenko were found unconscious in 3 feet of water in a Staten Island public pool on Wednesday July 13, 2011.
Jacob Fowler Jacob Fowler drowned June 27th, 2011at the age of 22. Fowler was a counselor at Camp Kulaqua, where he was attempting to dive to the bottom of the lake.
Drew Brislen died on May 26th, 2011 at age 40, during a free diving accident at a popular dive spot in Laguna beach. Drew played Volleyball and Water polo for Dana Hills High School and was an excellent Skier, Skeet Shooter, Surfer, Swimmer, and Scuba Diver.
Gene Whitner Milner, IIIdied tragically from Shallow Water Blackout in the family swimming pool on April 17th, 2011. Whitner graduated from the University of Georgia in 2009, where he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity. In high school he was the lacrosse captain his senior year of at Woodward Academy.
Clark Garrett passed away on July 27, 2010. Clark was an athletic and energetic young man, and was also a very experienced swimmer. He was having a short workout before dinner one evening when his mother found that he had drowned of SWB in their family pool.
15 year old Reiss Morgan of Brentwood, Essex, UK passed away on July 30, 2009. Reiss was a very athletic and active young man who was involved in many sports. He was practicing breath-holding in a pool at his father's athletic club when he succumbed to shallow water blackout.
David Heiner died June 18, 2008, at the age of 19. David was in critical condition after a near drowning accident at Cedarbrook Country Club in Charlotte, NC. He passed away later in the Hospital. David was a smart and passionate man, who took every opportunity to learn.
FORMER USC swimmer Joe Curreri, a Staff Sergeant and Special Forces communications sergeant assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Lewis, Wash. died on October 26, 2007, in an accidental drowning incident at Siet Lake while deployed to the Southern Philippines region near Panamao, Jolo Island, Republic of the Philippines.
Toby Blanck, died March 18th, 2007 at age 33 in a drowning accident in Tucson, Arizona. He was doing an under-water swim – an exercise where you swim under water for as long as possible. It is practiced by almost all swimmers in order to increase lung capacity.
The horror of realizing that Luke must have decided to hold his breath underwater and simply passed out is so incredibly painful to accept. If only I knew the dangers of holding one’s breath underwater. If only pools were required to have signage…