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Memorials and Condolences for Diver Passings This forum is intended for Rest in Peace Threads where we as a community offer condolences and memorialize those diver who have passed away. Safety, Accidents and Incidents discussion has a separate forum.

 
 
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Old 06-21-2019, 09:25 PM   #1
speargirlie03
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Tampa
Posts: 2
Carson Young and Johny Longblades

This time of year for me is very difficult. On July 8,2007 my older brother Johny Longblades passed away while diving. I always come here to read the kind words written about him. His best friend, Carson Young (Young-Gun) passed away on September 19, 2003 while diving.

The first time I met Carson at the Winn Dixie in Big Pine Key. He was with one of my brothers friends. I ran into him a few more times and he asked if I wanted to get lunch. I said yes. When he came to pick me up, he saw my brother and it turned out they were already friends... go figure. So the three of us went to lunch. They talked about the next time they were going spearing together and I sat there. The next few years were spent with Johnny and Carson hanging out all the time and I tagged along.
Carson and I developed our own thing, sneaking and trying not to let my brother know. But he did. He never said anything, but he knew. After Carson moved back to Ft. Myers I would see him every time he would come back to visit. I moved to Tampa and would drive to Ft. Myers on weekends to stay with him at his Mom's house. Sometimes I would show up and my brother was already there.
There was something comforting about it. Sleeping with the plaid comforter that I used super glue on to fix the many holes years earlier. Trying to get it just right to avoid the scratchy hard spots of glue became a game of sorts. From sneaking me into bars or going to house parties or getting stuck while off roading, I was always up for the adventure.
On September 20, 2003 I was sitting on my Dad's couch telling him how mad I was at Carson. He was supposed to call me when he got to St. Pete the day before for a tournament and never called. He wasn't answering and my brother wasn't either. I left voicemails I wish I hadn't. I still hadn't talked to my brother. Finally Carson was calling me. But it wasn't Carson, it was his cousin Frank. He told me something happened to Carson when he was diving. I assumed he was just hurt and was asking where he was. When I finally realized he was gone I cried. I cried for days. His funeral is still a blur, from emotions and Bud Light. I moved back home to the Keys.
On the one year anniversary of Carson passing I got a phone call from my brothers ex girlfriend saying my brother was in a dive accident and was being taken to Fisherman's Hospital. I was on my way home from a trip to Tampa and sped the whole way to the hospital. I arrived to see my mom who was a mess. They were prepping my brother for a flight to Miami. I drove my mom to the Miami hospital. When we got there he was already in the tank. He stayed in the ICU for a few days where he would threaten to leave AMA if he wasn't allowed to go smoke a cigarette. I would wheel him out and back a few times a day. He was released and we went back home.
He wasn't allowed to dive for a while. But as soon as he was cleared he was back in the water. They told him due to his accident he was more likely to have a second event. He didn't care. Diving was his drug of choice. Nothing could stop him, not the weather, an empty gas tank or no money. He always found a way.
On July 8, 2007 I was napping when my friend Jenny called me and said she was coming over. I was like no, I'm sleeping call you when I am up. Then my boss from the airport called me and told me the Sheriff's Department was looking for me and can he give them my number, I was like shit what did I do, and said yes. A lady named Charlene was calling me next asking how to get a hold of our parents, they were calling about Johnny. I was like shiiiiitttt what did he do. She said something happened and she needed to talk to my parents. I asked her if he was okay and she wouldn't answer. I knew. I just knew. As I raced out of bed to my car my friend arrived. I yelled something happened to Johnny, she said she knew. Her boyfriend was in the Coast Guard and had called her and told her to go be with me. As we drove to my mom I couldn't help but get physically sick as I was telling my Mom her son had passed away. I then had to call my Dad. This was officially the worst day of my life.
My brother was 51 weeks older than me. We were the same age for a week every year. He had always been there. The person who was there the first time I got drunk, skipped school, shot my first fish, would make me carry the bag of lobsters, charged me $20 to learn how to drive a manual car so, I could drive him home, the person who made me skip school with him so the school wouldn't ask where he was. The person who I never imagined not having was gone.
The first few years were the worst. Now almost 12 years later there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think of him and Carson. I gave birth to my first son in June 2009 and named him John Andrew after my brother. In 2012 I had another boy! I named him Carson. Daily I am reminded of these two amazing people I named my boys after.
I come to Spearboard a few times a year to read the comments left by their friends and strangers who were touched by them. It brings comfort to me. Especially this time of year. So Thank you! Thank you for sharing your memories and photos of them. It makes me smile when I read their posts, and replies.

Sorry this was so long, but I couldn't stop!

Lindsey
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