Local teen stays cool in crisis, saves diver's life

Don't go out alone, 18-year-old Calvin Grosvenor was taught.

It's considered the number one rule for open water diving — and Thursday afternoon it saved a life on West Lake Okoboji.

Grosvenor is credited with not only bringing his diving partner to the surface of the lake during an emergency, but swimming him to shore and performing CPR until help arrived.

The heroic act began as a chance encounter at Boji Divers. Jesse Fletchall of Grant City, Missouri, had hoped to do some diving in Iowa's deepest natural lake, but dive shop instructor Jose Barba was unavailable to accompany the 40-year-old that afternoon. Fletchall, who hoped to mark his 51st dive that day, initially said he'd go on a solo excursion near the former location of The Inn. The location is a popular diving spot because of the easy lake access, a steep drop off and its proximity to the city of Okoboji's water intake pipes, which can be used to help guide underwater explorers.

But diving isn't a thing to do alone, so Barba turned to the teen who became certified as an open water diver in November. Boji Divers is located near Okoboji Boat Works, which Grosvenor said is one of his usual fishing spots. He was also fishing for some work — Grosvenor wanted to get a potential employer's phone number from Barba.

"Luckily, that arrangement was made or it would have been a whole different story — it would have definitely been our first drowning of the year in West Lake Okoboji," Arnolds Park-Okoboji Fire and Rescue Chief Chris Yungbluth said.

Grosvenor and Fletchall set out for the dive spot and dove several dozen feet, but soon Grosvenor noticed things weren't quite right.

"About five minutes into the dive, he started to lag behind," Grosvenor said.

The young man turned around a number of times and used hand signals to ask if his diving partner was OK. The man continued to signal he was fine, according to Grosvenor, but that changed too.

"One time I turned around to check on him, and he was just kind of stiff and then he was seizing up and shaking," Grosvenor said.

Grosvenor swam closer to see what was wrong. The man's regulator was out of his mouth, and Grosvenor said he heard what sounded like screaming.

"It was just instinct that kicked in," Grosvenor said. "I just wanted to make sure he had oxygen, make sure he was breathing and then get him to shore as fast as possible. I wasn't thinking anything else — just a one-track mind making sure he was good."

Grosvenor immediately placed Fletchall's regulator back in his mouth, purging air into his lungs and the water out. The teen then dropped his own weighted belt and inflated his buoyancy control device to help bring both divers to the surface.

"We were in about 30 foot of water, but it felt like we were in way deeper just because everything was happening so fast, and it felt like everything was taking forever," Grosvenor said. "Once we got to the surface, I realized we were about 100 yards from shore, maybe farther."

He then swan his fellow diver toward shore, keeping Fletchall's head above water while wearing equipment that, by Grosvenor's estimate, totaled more than half his own body weight. The young man said it was one of the hardest things he has ever done.

"With him being just a limp body — swimming him back to shore — I honestly wasn't sure if I was dragging back a dead body," Grosvenor said. "I was scared I was doing everything wrong. In that instant, I didn't know what to think. I was scared pulling him through, but I had to maintain because, if there was a chance he was alive, I had to do what I had to do to make sure he survived."

As the two approached the shore, Grosvenor said a woman spotted them and asked what was happening. His reply was simple: "Help! He's drowning!" The woman dialed 911 — Chief Youngbluth said the emergency page came in around 2:27 p.m. — and called for help from anyone in the area. The commotion attracted a group of nearby construction workers. Grosvenor said the workers helped pull Fletchall onto the dock. He himself swan to the rocky shore, stripped off his equipment and hurried on to the dock.

"When I got up there, he didn't have a pulse and he wasn't breathing," Grosvenor said.

The teen, thanks to both lessons in school and his time in the Boy Scouts, performed CPR. Fletchall had a weak pulse and was breathing slightly when the ambulance arrived, according to Grosvenor.

Barba, who is also a member of Arnolds Park-Okoboji Fire and Rescue, said it takes a special kind of personality to react the way Grosvenor did in an emergency situation. He expressed pride in his student and described Grosvenor as both a talented young person and a very good diver.

"In a situation like Calvin was put in, he did all the right things," Barba said.

Yungbluth said emergency crews were able to take over after they arrived, and the man was taken by ambulance to Lakes Regional Healthcare before being transferred to Avera McKennon Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

"The young man deserves most of the credit for saving his life, and the paramedics from the hospital and the rescue folks did a good job working on him, but the bystanders calling and providing the aid first definitely made a big difference," Yungbluth said, noting it has been some time since his department responded to a diver in danger.

Fletchall said a series of tests in the hospital revealed the cause of Thursday's near tragedy.

"It turned out I have a hole in my heart which had allowed an air bubble to go to my brain, causing an embolism and then a seizure about 24 feet underwater," Fletchall said. "I've had two years of experience. This was my 51st dive, and I've never once had any trouble up until then."

Fletchall said he is recovering well — save for some soreness from the CPR — and he is back to work. He was released from the hospital Saturday, but his first stop wasn't home. It was Barba's dive shop to thank Grosvenor.

"I'm extremely lucky," Fletchall said. "He's not just my dive buddy anymore. He's my friend for life."

As such, he gifted the local teen with a brass charm in the shape of a diving fin. Fletchall said he has carried it with him on every dive the past two years.

"I always had it with me, and it just seemed like my little charm," Fletchall said. "In regard to saving my life, I figured he deserved it now. I got my use out of it — luck. I figured I could pass it on to him for future dives."

The Missourian also learned Grosvenor — who happened to be celebrating his 18th birthday that very weekend — had been using rented equipment from the shop. Fletchall bought the teen some brand new diving equipment — a regulator, goggles, dive knife and, of course, a buoyancy control device.

"That was the least I could do for him," Fletchall said.

The young man turned local hero said he's still processing the event, but he's elated his training and fortitude were able to save a life. Still, he credited the day's rescue to Barba's tutelage and encouraged others to train in order to be prepared for emergency situations.

"I wouldn't have known any of that or what to do if it wasn't for my instructor being as good as he was," Grosvenor said.

As for Fletchall, he said the experience won't deter him from pursuing his Master Diver certification.

"I need to see a cardiologist to get my heart fixed and, as soon as I can do that, I'm headed back to meet up with Calvin so we can finish the dive we started," Fletchall said.