The old cat has almost become the "ceiling" of Chinese cave diving, he is the Asian record setter and a well-known diving instructor. People who are familiar with him said that in this niche circle, regardless of age, almost all old cats will be honored as "cat brother".
After the news of his disappearance, almost the entire circle was shocked, diving enthusiasts took to social platforms to bless the old cat, and his family and friends also rushed to Duan, hoping for a miracle.
Han Ji Photo: China Exploration Association
"It is easy for him to catch others, but it is difficult for others to catch him"Jiudun Skylight became a local Internet celebrity check-in point during the past National Day holiday, and a large number of tourists poured into this small body of water, boating and swimming under the green mountains, in the clear water.
It is a paradise for diving enthusiasts, the world record setting for underwater cave diving, and is known as China's underwater Everest. Surrounding villagers say it's common to see people diving here with equipment, and the old cat is the one they see most often. They also know that the old cat is the "top master" in the diving world, and has been here for several years and dives here all year round.
At 8 p.m. on October 7, the old cat went down to the surface of the water he had been under countless times for daily training, preparing for the world record in five days.
The accident happened, and the surrounding villagers said that after 4 a.m., the companion who came with the old cat found that he was delayed in going ashore and panicked. The Du'an County Emergency Management Bureau issued a notice on October 10, saying that on the morning of October 8, the local people reported that Han Ji had dived on the evening of October 7 and did not go ashore until 11 a.m. on the 8th.
After the incident, the staff of local emergency, public security, health and other departments rushed to the scene in time to carry out emergency treatment. On October 9, the professional rescue team of Hangzhou Blue Flag Diving International Club rushed to the incident site to carry out search and rescue work.
Nine tons of skylights
Searching for old cats is an extremely difficult job for anyone. The local government said in an interview with the media, "In the past, this situation was called Han Yong, that is, Lanqi (Han Yong is the founder of Blue Flag Diving) came to salvage, and now that he has this situation himself, we have no better way." ”
A diving instructor from the same club as the old cat previously told Red Star News that because the dive location may be about 120 meters, it is understood that no one else in the country can go down, "so we are looking for underwater robots to search and see where the bottom is." ”
Industry insiders familiar with old cats said that being able to reach a certain depth and being able to go to that depth for search and rescue are two different concepts, and there are only a few people in China who can search and rescue at a depth of 120 meters, "It is easy for him to catch others, and it is difficult for others to fish him if he has an accident." ”
He told reporters that the old cat is the diver who is most familiar with the Jiutun skylight, and the schematic diagram of the underwater of the Jiutun skylight is hand-drawn by the old cat.
Early on the morning of 11 October, a new round of search began. At about 10 o'clock, the first underwater robot went into the water and began to search, and at about 12 o'clock, the figure of a suspected old cat was found. An informed source at the scene said that the location of the old cat was about 110 meters underwater, it was stuck on a platform, the depth was too deep, the underwater situation was complicated, the space was too small, and the machine could only hold the body first to prevent it from slipping.
But after discovering the figure of the old cat, how to bring people up at such a depth is still a problem that troubles the rescue team. After an afternoon of deliberation, the rescue team overturned the idea of bringing people up by machines, and had to find divers from other places who could go down to a depth of about 110 meters to retrieve people.
As of press time, the old cat is still underwater and has not been salvaged out of the water.
Rescue others, if the old cat does not do it, no one has the ability to do itIn Liu Yi, who often dives with old cats for rescue, cave diving is an extremely dangerous sport. Liu Yi's other identity is the screenwriter of the movie "Wolf Warrior".
Liu Yi introduced that cave diving is considered the top three riskiest in extreme sports, because the system inside the cave is very complicated, "and the gas we carry is actually limited, once you miss it, or your time is not right, you will not be able to get out." Coupled with large depth diving, more than 100 meters becomes more dangerous, because its air pressure is more than ten times the normal air pressure, and divers have to carry more than three or four gases, which if you use the wrong gas, you will face death. ”
"Especially like the more than 200 meters that the old cat was supposed to break through, it is even more dangerous." In that case, for example, oxygen will become toxic, nitrogen will become intoxicating, which is a particularly dangerous thing. Liu Yi said.
Liu Yi pointed out that the so-called rescue in cave diving is no different from salvaging corpses. Due to the complexity of the cave structure and the danger of cave diving, it is very dangerous to salvage the remains at a depth of more than 100 meters. And the old cat is undoubtedly one of the most capable divers in the country to do this.
Liu Yi told reporters that because the old cat has been diving in Du'an, Guangxi all year round, he is the best diver, so generally such things occur in An, it is he who undertakes the rescue, and in the rescue, the old cat has always been the backbone. "The old cat to go to the rescue, I think it is obligatory, because if he does not do it, there is no one to do it, and no one has the ability to do it."
In Liu Yi's memory, he was deeply impressed by the accident that also occurred in the Jiutun skylight during the National Day in 2021 and the subsequent search and rescue, in which the two divers and the old cat were particularly good friends, and one of them dived with the old cat almost every day.
Liu Yi and Old Cat (left)
After learning that the two had an accident, the old cat who was diving with the boat in the South China Sea rushed back to Duan to organize salvage and rescue as soon as possible, and finally found the first diver at a depth of 90 meters after 7 days of salvage.
"Because he has been salvaging for many days in a row before this, he has been particularly calm, and he goes into the water every day to fish, which is very hard. But by the moment we recovered how the stricken diver finally didn't move at all, he collapsed and suddenly burst into tears. But because there were many people at the scene at that time, he couldn't cry in front of others, because he was the backbone of the entire rescue, he could only pull the car door, and he was locked up in the car alone for a long time and did not come out, because at that time everyone looked at him, he couldn't even cry in public. ”
Liu Yi said that in addition to being righteous to his friends, even if he rescued a stranger and an old cat, he did his best, risking huge risks and diving to a deep depth, trying to bring people up completely so that their families could see them one last time.
In 2020, in the skylight of the Taohua Virgin of Duan, the old cat and the underwater robot cooperated to salvage the body of a female diver who had strayed into the cave from a depth of 140 meters, and dived to this depth to retrieve people, even for the old cat is a huge test, "He is very considerate of the feelings of the deceased's family, if the robot is directly used to bring the body up, it is the most trouble-free for him." But in order to prevent the body from exploding due to air pressure problems, he chose to pierce the diver in a suitable place underwater, release the gas, and then slowly bring it up, in fact, just so that the diver's family can give her a good ride. The old cat does not know this person at all and does not have any interactions, but the old cat will do everything he can to risk him and help the deceased to return to the surface and have a consolation for his family. ”
In addition, the old cat often faces the incomprehension of the deceased's family in the rescue, and sometimes the deceased's family will question him for not fulfilling his responsibilities, and even have direct verbal attacks, "But the old cat will also say, I understand your feelings, understand your feelings, he will only continue to do what he thinks he should do." ”
Humorous and freedom-loving, "go where you want to go"In Liu Yi's eyes, the old cat has a very good personality, is very humorous, very funny, freedom-loving, special righteousness, and enthusiasm, and is a person who everyone recognizes and is called cat brother. "But many times the old cat hides things in his heart and doesn't like to show his bad emotions very much."
In the view of a diving enthusiast who has attended a training course held by the old cat, in addition to technical proficiency and professionalism, the old cat is also a very serious and responsible instructor when lecturing, and is an excellent diver who engraves his love of cave diving in his bones.
A cake from the family on the old cat's birthday
Old cat can become the top diver in China, Liu Yi feels that he first has a very good talent, "Super deep cave diving requires very solid and very complex diving theory, many divers have good physical fitness, but their mastery of theory is not so good." The old cat's physical fitness is very good, he is naturally engaged in outdoor work, and his mastery of theory is also very good, so the two can be combined, which is his talent. ”
But in addition, Liu Yi believes that the old cat is a very persistent, especially serious person, he has been studying diving, has been constantly moving forward, little by little to improve, which is also a more important personal trait for him to become a cave diving master.
Death, in Liu Yi's contact experience with the old cat, is not a taboo word, but a problem that will be faced every time, and it is also a problem that is often discussed, "Every time you come out of the darkness deep in the cave, when you arrive at the entrance of the cave, and see the bright light outside, you will be very relieved and happy, but in fact, every time you enter (dive) there is a psychological preparation that may not come back." ”
Regarding the accident that happened, Liu Yi said that the old cat stayed in the place he liked, but the only thing that made it difficult for him to accept was that the old cat had an accident in a daily practice, "I think even if he has an accident in the process of challenging the world record, I think I can accept it, but he had an accident in a daily practice, which is something I can't accept." Now we don't know what happened to him, only everything may only be answered after his body is found. ”
Outside the diving circle, in the eyes of the old cat's family, all this is clearly unacceptable.
A family member of an old cat told reporters that for the old cat, he chose to dedicate himself to the cause he loves the most, but for the family, they were not ready. "He dives abroad all year round, and he can't go home several times a year, he is very good, but for me, I still hope that he is just my family and safe and sound than how famous and good he is."
On October 10, the third day of the old cat's disappearance, it was also his birthday. The old cat's brother arrived at the Du'an Jiudun skylight, brought wine and cake, wiped his tears, and put these in front of the steps where the old cat went into the water, and the sky blue cake said "Go where you want to go, we all want you to be happy".
(Red Star News)