| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilcox, John | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Self, Danny | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Russell, Wayne | 36 | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
On Sunday, February 26, at about 7:50 p.m., three divers entered Jacob's Well near Wimberly, Texas. These were John Wilcox, Danny Self (both diving instructors) and Wayne Russell (36) a cave diver of 12 years experience. This was to be a quick mapping dive, to get overall dimensions. It was also a trespass (without landowner permission), and thus may have been hurried, without ordinary preparation and planning. They seemed to have good equipment with single 80 cubic foot tanks, depth and pressure consoles, three lights apiece and a single 50 cubic foot tank with octopus regulator left at the 25 foot level. A guideline was placed as they descended, secured at 25 feet (the bottom of the vertical shaft out), 50 feet, 75 feet, and 90 feet. In the fourth chamber they checked their air pressure. Wilcox and Russell proceeded to lay a line into the fifth chamber while Self explored the fourth. Wilcox and Russell proceeded into the sixth chamber with Wilcox taking pictures and Russell attaching a 100 foot survey tape to be used to measure the lower chambers. Russell then returned to Wilcox and signaled that it was time to go. They proceeded into the fourth chamber. In the third chamber, Self and Wilcox met up and Self signalled 'Where's Wayne?' Wilcox pointed down the tunnel behind, assuming Russell was working with his survey tape or putting his tank on. He had been just behind when entering the fourth chamber. They had to assume he would catch up; their air would not allow anything else. They made their decompression stops, waiting a little extra time, and worried, but could do nothing when Russell failed to appear. At the surface they waited several minutes, then, at 9:16 p.m., they notified the Sheriff's Office. The body was recovered the following day at 12:17 p.m. It was found in the fifth chamber, lying on the safety line, tank empty. The coroner's verdict was drowning.
This is another of the seemingly inexplicable diving mishaps where there was no obvious problem, yet there was a fatality. Why didn't Russell continue up with the others? Perhaps his air had been used up faster than the others, or perhaps nitrogen narcosis caused him to delay. We'll never know.
Fatal drowning of a cave diver in Jacob's Well, potentially due to running out of air or experiencing nitrogen narcosis.