Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Interview With Scott Hunsucker, Mark Orr
Aired June 20, 2002 - 11:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And now we have got a story that is guaranteed to give you the heebie-jeebies. I know this one freaks me out. It comes from the Pensacola, Florida area, where Scott Hunsucker is a certified recovery diver.
Now, as a recovery diver, he's had to go after the bodies of about a dozen drowning victims over the years. Now last weekend, he got a call when a Mississippi man became separated from his diving buddies in an underwater cave. And he went in expecting the worst, but he got the surprise of his life. Here's Bob Solarski from our affiliate WEAR.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB SOLARSKI, WEAR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Scott Hunsucker got to this cave opening near the Trapola (ph) River Saturday night, diver Mark Orr was deep inside and had been for more than six hours. Visibility was near zero in the cave water beyond. Far different than the water Scott was used to in many other cave dives in this area like this one.
SCOTT HUNSUCKER, DIVER: We turned to head into the second passage. The visibility went from two feet to zero feet. So now we truly are groping around in the dark. Any moment, expecting to have the inevitable, bumping into a corpse and getting psychologically ready for it. I hear a little bit of noise. I surface in the one air pocket in the cave, and Mr. Orr is sitting there going, "hey, are you looking for a dead man?" Big adrenaline producing moment for me when the corpse I'm looking for is talking to me.
SOLARSKI: Scott and partner Daniel Nievas (ph) were stunned at how calm their victim was and began planning their exit from the black cavern of bats and dung.
HUNSUCKER: He actually was -- we disturbed his nap when our lights entered the room where he was at. He saw our lights and knew that, you know, that the rescue guys had come to get him. He was sleeping up until that point. He was amazingly calm.
SOLARSKI: When they slowly surfaced at the mouth of the cave, onlookers erupted with cheers, realizing all three men were alive.
HUNSUCKER: I attribute his levelheadedness to being able to stay alive for six hours, you know, in total darkness in a water-filled cave waiting for someone to come get him.
SOLARSKI (on camera): Surrounded by bat dung.
HUNSUCKER: And carcasses and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) remnants. Yeah, it's a pretty gross place.
SOLARSKI (voice-over): Out of 480 divers who've ever been reported missing in a cave, Mark Orr is only the fourth to be found alive. And that's created a bond Scott Hunsucker will relish for some time to come.
Bob Solarski, Channel 3 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right. We've heard the story. Now, let's meet the players. Joining us to talk about this rare rescue are Scott Hunsucker himself, the man who carried it out. There you see him there. And on the phone with us is Mark Orr, who is a very lucky guy who -- I can't believe this -- was sitting there waiting patiently and calmly. You've got to explain this one, Mark. How -- tell the truth. How patient and how calm were you in that cave under all that water?
MARK ORR, RESCUED CAVE DIVER: Well, I was actually very patient and calm. I'm a Christian, and I pray all the time, and, you know, so it was nothing new to me to begin to pray, even in there. And when I began to pray, just a peace of God came over me, and I had no fear or worry at all.
HARRIS: What in the world is it that would drive you to do that in the first place? You know, the first time I heard about spelunking, is this caving diving, in high school, man, I couldn't sleep for about two nights. This idea really freaks me out, and I know it gives other people the heebie-jeebies. How do, how do you -- what gave you this idea to do it in the first place?
ORR: I guess exploration of the unknown. And, quite honestly, it's just, it's very beautiful down in those caves and, you know, the rock formation and the fish that you can see and all. It's just -- it's just a very adventurous kind of thing.
HARRIS: That's putting it mildly, if you ask me. Scott, I have to ask you -- now, have you ever yourself ever done this spelunking, or do you just basically look at this as a job to do just to go down there and haul these guys out of there?
HUNSUCKER: No. Cave diving is a major portion of my life. I log probably 150, 200 cave dives a year. Very few of them are actually recoveries, or in this case, a rescue. It's been -- I've been cave diving now since 1995.
HARRIS: Yeah?
HUNSUCKER: I do it all over the state. It's a very big part of my life. This is just one small segment. HARRIS: Now, as I heard the report, it said that only four have ever been found alive. Was this your first time finding someone alive?
HUNSUCKER: This was my first time ever finding someone alive. I've pulled out more than my share of unfortunate open water divers, like Mr. Orr, which, I think, is the most important part to mention.
Mark was not trained to be in this environment. Mark was an open water diver who let his desire to see what's beyond the next corner get the best of him. Statistically speaking, as long as the divers are trained for this environment, there is very little danger that is associated with it. We have five basic rules in cave diving. And no diver has ever died in a cave that has not broken one of those rules. Mark broke four of them. He's very lucky to still be alive.
HARRIS: All right. Mark, are you listening? I want, we're going to get you graded right now on your diving skills. Which rules did he break?
HUNSUCKER: The largest rule he broke was training. And rules are listed in order in the number of fatalities that they have caused. Training, or lack of training in Mark's case, is the number one cause of fatalities in cave diving. Continuous guideline to the surface. There are lines that are installed in cave like you can see on the TV now.
HARRIS: Right.
HUNSUCKER: We use those lines to navigate underground, under water. We have little arrows that point directions. We communicate with them. They were not using the lines that were in the cave. They were off doing their thing.
HARRIS: What?
HUNSUCKER: They found the line -- they -- well, they're not trained. They don't know that they are supposed to be on the line. They're in there looking around enjoying themselves. They knew the line existed. Mark and I spoke of that. When the visibility went bad, they attempted to find the line. One of them actually found it, went the wrong way into the cave, went to the end of the cave, turned around and came back out.
So it very well could have turned out to be finding Mark alive and finding his buddy dead, since he made a wrong turn. They did not have the correct number of lights, and they were not using proper air management rules. He's very lucky, period.
HARRIS: Mark, when you hear that kind of a rundown, you got to feel like you are even luckier now hearing that, then you felt when he finally found you?
ORR: Oh, yeah. Well, first, even in the cave, I'm not sure if Scott remembers or not, but he was telling me I was a very lucky man.
HUNSUCKER: I remember.
ORR: And I don't remember if he remembers the comment, I don't know if he remembers the comment or not, but I turned around and said, "I'm not lucky. I'm blessed.
HARRIS: Mark, listen, are you going to count on this blessing and do this again, or what?
ORR: No, I'm -- the only time I'll go into a cave again now that I'm more knowledgeable about the dangers would only be if I were certified in cave diving.
HARRIS: That's probably a very smart move on your part.
HUNSUCKER: I would agree.
HARRIS: Scott, if I'm you, I'm expecting a very big Christmas gift this year coming from Mississippi.
HUNSUCKER: I'm just happy to find him alive. That was a very unique experience, one that I expect not to experience again. I would like to, but I don't expect it.
HARRIS: All right. Just thinking about.
ORR: Can I say just something real quick?
HARRIS: Yeah. Go ahead, Mark.
ORR: I just, I just want to say, you know, that like I said before, it's only God that I came out of that cave alive, but I would just really like to hammer on the thoughts that, you know, I was not certified, and if I have anything to say to any other diver, I would say don't go in a cave uncertified.
HARRIS: There you go. We'll end it there. Good advice there, Mark. Now, you go out and buy some lottery tickets. Mark Orr, Scott Hunsucker. Nice going, Scott. Congratulations.
HUNSUCKER: Thank you, sir.
HARRIS: We appreciate you guys joining us today, and we sure hope to have a chance to talk with you later on. Have a good one. Boy, the story still gives me the willies.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
