News
Local tour guide suffers spinal injury in Mexico
By Jim Lamb
Local tour guide Char White suffered a critical spinal cord injury last weekend in a scuba diving accident more than 25 miles off shore from the Mexican resort of Rocky Point.
Her son, Peter White, gave her CPR immediately and continued throughout a harrowing boat ride to shore, ambulance trips across Northern Sonora and Southern Arizona to Ajo and finally by helicopter to Tucson.
Char White was at University of Arizona Medical Center on Tuesday, being treated for a Type II Odontoid fracture of her spinal column, an injury that immediately rendered her paralyzed.
Peter White said everyone is hoping she’ll recover all or some of her senses. He said Tuesday she’s under sedation.
“She’s holding up. She’s not in the best shape,” he said.
He added, “No visitors, no calls, please.”
He also said, “We could use a lot of prayer … and the power of the Lord to have a miracle.”
Char White had organized a trip to the ocean resort Rocky Point and then 25 miles southeast to Bird Island. Green Valley acquaintances said she’d done this trip before.
Some of the tour members were snorkeling next to the island, looking at ocean life in the crystal water, while swimming around their ship, the Fiesta Cruiser.
“She’d just put on her mask” Peter White said, when someone slid down a slide from the ship’s upper deck into the water. He landed on her back, neck and head.
Peter White said he immediately went to help her. A power boat took both mother and son to shore in about 45 minutes.
Two nurses on the ship also helped, he said.
Help had been summoned on shore.
After a brief stay at a Rocky Point hospital, the high speed trip to Tucson medical help started.
“I was breathing for her,” he said describing the CPR he administered.
The U.S. Consulate in Nogales, Sonora, had not heard about the mishap until called by the Green Valley News on Monday.
Consulate employee Jim Bredecki said he would immediately call Rocky Point to try to get more information, but he was not available Tuesday.
Char White was also organizing a later deep sea fishing expedition to Rocky Point, more properly known as Puerto Penasco.
And she was also organizing a tour from Green Valley to Tubac and Tumacacori for Sept. 22 and Oct. 28.
One of the Tubac guides for that trip, Nancy Valentine, expressed shock when she learned of the accident.
“Oh, that’s just awful,” she said, a sentiment expressed by callers to the Green Valley News Monday and Tuesday.
jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749
Her son, Peter White, gave her CPR immediately and continued throughout a harrowing boat ride to shore, ambulance trips across Northern Sonora and Southern Arizona to Ajo and finally by helicopter to Tucson.
Char White was at University of Arizona Medical Center on Tuesday, being treated for a Type II Odontoid fracture of her spinal column, an injury that immediately rendered her paralyzed.
Peter White said everyone is hoping she’ll recover all or some of her senses. He said Tuesday she’s under sedation.
“She’s holding up. She’s not in the best shape,” he said.
He added, “No visitors, no calls, please.”
He also said, “We could use a lot of prayer … and the power of the Lord to have a miracle.”
Char White had organized a trip to the ocean resort Rocky Point and then 25 miles southeast to Bird Island. Green Valley acquaintances said she’d done this trip before.
Some of the tour members were snorkeling next to the island, looking at ocean life in the crystal water, while swimming around their ship, the Fiesta Cruiser.
“She’d just put on her mask” Peter White said, when someone slid down a slide from the ship’s upper deck into the water. He landed on her back, neck and head.
Peter White said he immediately went to help her. A power boat took both mother and son to shore in about 45 minutes.
Two nurses on the ship also helped, he said.
Help had been summoned on shore.
After a brief stay at a Rocky Point hospital, the high speed trip to Tucson medical help started.
“I was breathing for her,” he said describing the CPR he administered.
The U.S. Consulate in Nogales, Sonora, had not heard about the mishap until called by the Green Valley News on Monday.
Consulate employee Jim Bredecki said he would immediately call Rocky Point to try to get more information, but he was not available Tuesday.
Char White was also organizing a later deep sea fishing expedition to Rocky Point, more properly known as Puerto Penasco.
And she was also organizing a tour from Green Valley to Tubac and Tumacacori for Sept. 22 and Oct. 28.
One of the Tubac guides for that trip, Nancy Valentine, expressed shock when she learned of the accident.
“Oh, that’s just awful,” she said, a sentiment expressed by callers to the Green Valley News Monday and Tuesday.
jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749
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