A court was shown the horrific final moments of a dying North Sea diver as colleagues tried desperately to save his life almost 500ft beneath the water’s surface.
Russell Robinson’s former workmate wept yesterday as the graphic footage was screened on the second day of a fatal accident inquiry into his death.
The film, which lasted more than an hour, showed the young dad’s desperate pleas for help after he found himself unable to breathe during a routine diving operation at the Balmoral platform on October 30, 2011.
Giving evidence at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, his two colleagues, Paul Stone and Simon Bradley, gave emotional accounts of how they battled to save his life over the course of an hour.
And at one point Mr Stone, 55, wiped tears from his eyes as he remembered the events.
Mr Bradley said the 33-year-old started to get into difficulties at around 7.09pm when he could be heard on the audio tape speaking “incoherently”.
Minutes later Mr Robinson could be heard in an extremely distressed state, screaming that he had no gas.
The inquiry, which is sitting before Sheriff Annella Cowan, heard the gas levels were checked from the bell and everything appeared to be in order.
Mr Robinson was then instructed by his supervisor Steve Hail to “free flow”, meaning he should have been able to breathe a fresh stream of gas.
Moments later he screamed in distress “I want to stop” and then “I can’t breathe”.
They were his last words.
The inquiry heard Mr Robinson managed to pull himself up the umbilical, which was maintaining his connection with the diving bell, until his head was inside.
However, Mr Bradley, 44, said he heard him take his last breath at 7.19pm.
It then took almost an hour – until 8.14pm – for the pair to hoist Mr Robinson up out of the water by his emergency harness and completely seal the bell ready to be brought back up.
The pair tried to resuscitate him, said Mr Bradley, however the bell was so small they were unable to lie him down to carry out compressions.
He added that Mr Stone had to support his back, with Mr Robinson’s legs still in the water, while he carried out the CPR as best he could.
During his evidence Mr Stone said the diving bell was only big enough for two men and that their bid to rescue Mr Robinson was “greatly hindered” by the cramped space.
He said before they were able to get Mr Robinson back to safety they had to be in a position where they were able to close the door of the bell and seal it fully.
Mr Stone said it was the “smallest diving bell he had ever worked in” and a great deal of time was spent trying to pull the six-foot casualty through a small hole.
He said there was also an excess of umbilical cord which had to be removed and discarded as it was blocking the door.
Mr Stone said: “It was hard to work in such a confined area as that particular bell.
“It was a two-man bell and there were three of us which hampered us a great deal when we were trying to help Russell.”
The inquiry continues today.
