Ladbible X Whatsapp
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
British diver revealed what he was thinking when stuck 300ft underwater with no oxygen for more than 30 minutes

Home> News> UK News

Updated 20:52 20 Mar 2025 GMTPublished 16:24 8 Mar 2025 GMT

British diver revealed what he was thinking when stuck 300ft underwater with no oxygen for more than 30 minutes

Saturation diver Chris Lemons was stuck underwater with no oxygen back in 2012 for over half an hour

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

A British diver has explained what was going through his mind when he realised he was stuck 300 feet underwater with no oxygen.

Saturation diver Chris Lemons was left fighting for his life after fixing a pipe below the North Sea, near the Huntington oil field off Aberdeen on 18 September 2012.

Due to a positioning system failure, the Bibby Topaz support vessel drifted into rough seas, and Lemons' lifeline to the surface - an umbilical cable which tethered him to the diving bell and the boat - was cut off.

The Scotsman was left in complete darkness, only with a limited emergency gas supply in its backup tanks, estimated to last around five minutes.

On what he was thinking in that moment, Lemons explained to The Guardian: "I was at an exciting point in my life: early thirties, getting married the following year, we were in the process of building a house...

Advert

"I had all the hopes and dreams you have at that stage – of children, travel – and it felt as if all of that was about to be ripped away in this strange, lonely, ethereal place.

"I grew up in a middle-class family on the outskirts of Cambridge, and I remember thinking: 'How is this dark, lonely place where I end my days?'."

Lemons accepted his fate (Dogwoof)
Lemons accepted his fate (Dogwoof)

With time running out, Topaz launched a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to locate his whereabouts.

The mini submarine had a camera attached to it, showing Lemons lying on top of the structure in the foetal position.

Advert

When he lost consciousness, Lemons said the 'actual moment was peaceful'.

"I feel like a bit of a charlatan. I still get contacted all the time by people who’ve lost loved ones, but I don’t have the right to tell you what it’s like – I didn’t die," he added.

Thankfully, the dynamic positioning system was up and running again, just in time to save Lemons.

Lemons' heroic colleagues managed to track him down and rescue him (Dogwoof)
Lemons' heroic colleagues managed to track him down and rescue him (Dogwoof)

With just minutes left of emergency gas, colleagues Duncan Allcock and Dave Yuas were able to drag him to safety.

Advert

When they got him back into the bell and took off his helmet, Lemons was bright blue.

Allcock then gave him mouth-to-mouth and incredibly, he survived.

"They’re the real heroes in this story," Lemons added: "And everyone on the boat. I’m just a damsel in distress."

While experts still don't know how he made it, Lemons reckons the freezing conditions saved him.

"But I’ve learned that if my body had been so cold that I’d gone into some kind of hibernation or stasis, there is no way Duncan would have been able to resuscitate me that quickly," he said.

Advert

Lemons' life-changing experience was the subject of 2019 documentary Last Breath and has been dramatised in 2025 feature film of the same name, directed by Alex Parkinson.

Finn Cole stars as Lemons, while Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu play his fellow divers.

Last Breath will be released in UK cinemas by Entertainment Film Distributors on March 14, 2025.

Featured Image Credit: Dogwoof/Last Breath

Topics: Health, Technology, UK News, World News

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

X

@Anish_Vij

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
  • 3 hours ago

    Man, 92, found guilty of murder of woman nearly 60 years ago in UK's 'longest cold case'

    75-year-old Louisa Dunne was murdered in her Bristol home in 1967

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    'Marriage destroyer' holiday hotspot where Brits 'can't stop cheating' revealed

    Time to cancel those flights

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Brit ranked no.733 in world won't receive £99k prize money despite shock first round win at Wimbledon

    Oliver Tarvet won't see the money because of a sporting rule

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Police in frantic search for victim's head after reality star girlfriend charged with murder

    Police believe he was killed nearly two weeks ago now

    News
  • Missing British couple found dead days after devastating Spanish floods killing more than 200 people
  • More than 30 people have been trapped inside the UK's highest pub due to snow
  • Why first British couple to sign up for 'suicide pod' will have their death recorded on camera
  • Why no one has lived in 'lost' UK village for more than 80 years despite it being open to public