Keys' Teen Dead After Surfacing From Dive Too Quickly
CUDJOE KEY – A Florida Keys teen, who was rushed to a Miami hospital after he surfaced too quickly while scuba diving, has died.
Family members said 16-year-old Kevin Piper Jr. of Cudjoe Key was spearfishing with scuba tanks Sunday when he surfaced without decompressing.
Piper's father says the teen dove after a grouper without realizing his tank was low on air. According to a Monroe County Sheriff's Office report, Piper ran out of air and shot to the surface.
The teen's father says Piper got to the surface, told a friend he "felt funny" and then lost consciousness.
The teen was originally rushed to hospital in the Lower Keys. He was then transferred to a hospital in Miami with a hyperbaric chamber where he died on Tuesday.
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