A scuba diver holidaying in Egypt is facing a £40,000 bill for medical treatment after an accident diving:
http://www.divernet.com/news/stories/130805bill.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/w...ds/4144366.stm
Irrespective of the actual incident and what occurred, the crux of the issue is the injured party exceeded the limitations of his holiday insurance. He's not covered.
Many travel insurance policies don't offer much cover for activities they consider hazardous. Even something as simple as mountain biking or windsurfing might not be covered. Read the small print on any holiday package or even standard travel agent's policy. Make sure it is right for you.
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For anyone interested, the bends (better described as Decompression Illness - DCI) is an issue commmonly the result of a diver absorbing nitrogen at pressure into the body tissues whilst underwater. The nitrogen is ablsorbed more quickly than it is released. Having absorbed nitrogen, if the diver has too much of it in the body, as he comes to the surface the decreasing pressure of water allows the nitrogen to expand forming bubbles inside the body. These bubbles cause injury. Dehydration can predispose the body to DCI, as less liquid in the body affects the flow of blood and the ability of cells to absorb and release gasses.
The effect of expanding bubbles is the same as the release of saturated gasses in carbonated drinks like coke bottles. The gas is happy while the lid is on, release the lid, and the bubbles form.
Recreational divers trained to Advanced Open Water diver level are limited by their qualification to 30m depth. Divers can safely dive to the 48m depth this chap did, but should have increased technical training and equipment. From everything I've seen to date, he did not have such resources.