Commercial Diver HBOT Testimony
By Tanner Smith, Former Commercial Diver
In 1989 a drowned child, a demented schizophrenic ex-champion boxer, and a demented commercial diver started a revolution in the treatment of brain injury with HBOT. Working with Dr. Keith Van Meter we realized we could treat brain injury in divers long after the U.S. Navy said it was possible, namely, more than 24h after the diving accident. The discovery and dramatic improvement in a 46 year old commercial diver 7 months after his diving accident changed everything.This is the story of another commercial diver treated years after his diving accident and the impact it had on his life. Out of the blue 10 years after his treatment this diver surprised me with an email about the outcome of his HBOT and the effect it had on his life. He sent me the following short vignette and asked me to help him publish it. This website is the first place it will appear. His short story and pictures are posted with his permission.
The Putt That Changed My Life
I never thought a missed putt would become one of the greatest moments of my life.
On November 1, 2016, while receiving hyperbaric oxygen treatments with Dr. Paul Harch in New Orleans, I decided to do something I hadn’t been able to enjoy in years.
My energy was coming back. My memory was improving. For the first time since my commercial diving accident, I felt alive again.
Something inside me told me it was time to pick up a golf club.
I had no idea that one missed putt would become the moment I realized I was finally coming out of the darkness and that my life was changing forever.
Life After My Commercial Diving Accident
For years, I hadn’t been able to enjoy the game I loved.
After my commercial diving accident, everything changed. I lived with dizziness, nystagmus, severe balance problems, memory loss, speech difficulties, and frequent falls. Doctors couldn’t explain why I continued getting worse. I entered one of the darkest times in my life and slowly lost hope.
Golf wasn’t fun anymore.
Every time I swung a golf club, the dizziness would come. Looking down at the golf ball to putt made me feel like I was going to fall over. Eventually, I gave up the game I loved because it had become another reminder of everything I had lost.
The Round That Changed Everything
I stepped onto the first tee, took a deep breath, and swung my driver.
Perfect.
The ball sailed straight down the middle of the fairway.
I stood there for a second.
Nothing happened.
No dizziness.
No loss of balance.
I walked to my ball, hit my second shot, and watched it land on the “dance floor”, the putting green.
As I walked onto the green, I had a feeling this would be the moment.
For years, simply looking down at a golf ball while putting would bring on my symptoms.
I walked up to my ball, lined up my putt, looked down at the golf ball…
…and waited.
Ten seconds passed.
Nothing.
I kept staring at the ball.
Another ten seconds.
Still nothing.
My symptoms never came.
Right then, I knew.
The hyperbaric oxygen treatments had changed my life.
I actually missed the putt…
But I didn’t care.
I fell to my knees on that putting green, tears running down my face, and thanked God.
People may think this story is about golf.
It isn’t.
It’s About Hope
It’s about hope.
It’s about getting your life back after believing it was gone forever.
For years, I lived in darkness. I honestly believed this was how I would spend the rest of my life. Then I was referred to Dr. Paul Harch, who recognized that my symptoms were related to my commercial diving injury and treated me with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
I believe God gave me a second chance at life by leading me to Dr. Paul Harch and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Because of that, I have hope again, and I’ll be forever grateful. HBOT was not a cure, however. It gave me my life back, but I continue to need treatment to keep me at a good level of function with minimal symptoms. Without continued HBOT I regress.
Today, I share my story for every diver and for anyone living with a brain injury who is suffering in darkness. I pray my story reaches people all over the world and reminds them to never give up.
Your story may not be over.
