Edd Sorenson (born October 17, 1959) is a technical cave diver known for numerous rescues of lost or trapped divers in underwater caves all over the United States, particularly in Florida's Vortex Spring and Blue Spring State Park.[1][2][3][4] He is well known for being one of the most experienced cave divers in the world.
Edd Sorenson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 October 1959 |
| Known for | Cave diving, cave rescue |
Career
editSorenson began diving in 1995 and within a few years expanded to cave diving. In 1999, he joined International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery (IUCRR) as one of the original members and in 2003 founded Cave Adventurers dive center in Marianna, Florida near Florida Caverns State Park.
In 2012, Sorenson became a local hero after four rescues that year and was featured in the Duracell series Quantum Heroes.[5] For his efforts in 2012, Sorenson was awarded the Diver’s Alert Network Hero Award, Heroic Merit Awards and the Instructor Trainer of the Year from the Professional Scuba Association International.[6][7]
Due to his experience with the Vortex Spring cave system, Sorenson was involved in the 2010 search for missing diver Ben McDaniel. After an extensive search Sorenson believed that McDaniel was not trapped in the cave because of lack of evidence and disturbance to the cave commonly seen after a diver passes through. He stated, "The last place I searched was pristine, without a mark that a diver had been there. It would be impossible to go through that restriction without making a mark on the floor or ceiling. He's not in there."[8]
In February 2019 Sorenson, along with Mike Young, successfully conducted two body recoveries from Dudú Lagoon in the Dominican Republic.[9]
In April 2019 Sorenson successfully rescued Josh Bratchley, a British cave diver who assisted in the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thai cave, from Mill Pond Cave in Flynn's Lick, Tennessee.[10]
References
edit- ^ "Distressed Diver Saved at Blue Springs". myPanHandle. 2014-11-05. Archived from the original on 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ Sutta, David (2014-06-28). "Cave Diving: Behind The Scenes". CBS Miami. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ Morton, Brooke (2013-11-13). "What It's Like to Attempt a Cave Rescue". Scuba Diving. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ Kassab, Beth (24 June 2015). "Should cave diving sites have more restrictions?". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ Baucom, Bergen (2013-09-18). "Local Cave Diver Featured in Duracell Battery Series". wjhg. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ "Edd Sorenson". Cave Adventurers Training. 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-07-06. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ "Cave Diver Celebrated for Successful Rescue Efforts". Caving News. 2013-01-21. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ Wolff, Cindy (2012-02-19). "Theories about Collierville diver's disappearance swirl in vortex of unanswered questions". MCA. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ Lunn, Rosemary E. "Two bodies successfully recovered in Dom Rep". X-Ray Magazine.
- ^ Flynn, Meagan. "A diver who helped rescue the Thai soccer team was just saved from an underwater cave in Tennessee". The Washington Post.