Parents file wrongful death lawsuit for son’s drowning

B&R Auto Shop owner Sung Keun Yu and Jung Jo Choy, the surviving parents of Seung Bum Yu, together with the deceased’s estate and its administrator, Jung Hoon Tae, are suing Galaxy Company Ltd., doing business as Divers Paradise in Saipan Inc., and its dive master Rex R. Jose.

Also named co-defendant is PADI Americas, an international organization that conducts scuba diving courses and certifies divers at various skill levels.

The plaintiffs are suing all defendants for negligence. Divers Paradise, Jose, and PADI are also being sued for wrongful death.

The plaintiffs, through attorney Eric S. Smith, are demanding unspecified damages, attorney’s fees, and court costs.

Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from Galaxy Company yesterday but a manager declined.

Seung Bum Yu, 35, was scuba diving with other persons, including dive instructor Jose, when the incident happened outside the reef of Lau Lau Beach on April 16, 2011.

According to the complaint, there was no pre-dive assessment of Yu’s diving experience nor the level of his diving skills. Smith said that Jose devoted less than 15 minutes to provide instructions to all five of the dive party. There was no explanation as to a dive plan, he added.

Smith said the incident happened some 30 minutes into the dive, just as Jose had signaled for the divers to turn back to shore.

Initially, Yu was swimming next to his childhood friend, Jin Cho, as they began to return to shore following the other divers.

After a few minutes, Jin Cho noted that Yu was no longer next to him. He looked around and saw Yu behind him, who seemed to be having some difficulty with his breathing equipment.

Jin Cho saw Yu removing his mouthpiece regulator from his mouth and it appeared that he was going to surface.

At that moment, Jin Cho wanted to notify the instructor but he did not want to leave Yu. Jin Cho headed back to Yu to ascertain what the problem was. Since Yu appeared to be having difficulty ascending, Jin Cho grabbed him to help him to the surface.

Jin Cho attempted to inflate Yu’s vest, by manipulating the control on Yu’s vest, but it would not inflate.

Jin Cho was kicking hard and they were ascending. Yu was thrashing with his arms and legs. Yu hit Jin Cho’s regulator knocking it out of the mouthpiece as they were heading to the surface.

At the surface, Yu continued to thrash his arms and legs. Jin Cho, who continued to hold on to Yu, could only keep them on the surface by kicking his flippers.

Even though they were both at the surface, Yu was grabbing at Jin Cho. Because Jin Cho could not use his regulator, he could only breath when his head was above the surface. Yu’s struggle kept pulling him under the surface.

Tiring, Jin Cho eventually let go of Yu and he started yelling for help. He then noted that Yu no longer was on the surface but was under water.

Just as Jose and the three other divers reached the surface, one of them heard shouting. Jose told the three divers to remain where they were on the surface and he swam toward the location where the shouting was coming from.

Other people on the reef dived into the water and swam toward them.

Yu was brought to shore, taken out of the water, and CPR was performed, to no avail. An ambulance arrived and took him to the Commonwealth Health Center were he was pronounced dead.

Smith said Divers Paradise and Jose violated the Commonwealth’s safety statute by failing to comply with PADI standards while conducting the open water dive.

Smith cited, among other alleged violations, failure to screen and evaluate Yu to ensure that he met the required prerequisite and possessed the knowledge and skill to undertake an open water dive at Lau Lau Bay.

Smith said PADI acted recklessly in disregard of its paying clients by allowing Jose to hold himself out as a PADI dive master authorized to conduct and instruct PADI dives when it knew or should have known he was not adhering to PADI standards.