My review for #LastBreath: "Last Breath” is a simple story of an extraordinary effort that succeeds because it’s not just about survival or the unusual situation, but because of the heroic, human effort that went into its deep-sea rescue." Read the review: https://t.co/p2DrOCqcuQ pic.twitter.com/9iqHdu9NlJ
— Richard Crouse (@RichardCrouse) February 28, 2025
Chris Lemons was 300 feet below the surface of the North Sea, replacing a pipe on an oil rig manifold with two other divers. Rough waters and equipment failure caused their ship to drift away. As they rushed to return, Lemons’ umbilical cable snagged on a metal structure and snapped, leaving him stranded with limited air.
It took over 30 minutes for the crew to locate Lemons. He appeared lifeless when pulled into the diving bell. Against the odds, he revived after CPR from his mentor, Duncan Allcock.
An exclusive Q&A with Last Breath director and co-writer Alex Parkinson on exploring the inextinguishable human spirit:https://t.co/2s4l66u8qV
— Focus Features (@FocusFeatures) February 28, 2025
Lemons’ first words were, “Dave … you OK?” reflecting his caring nature. Researchers have no scientific explanation for how Lemons survived 29 minutes without oxygen. “Three minutes without oxygen is generally when you start getting brain damage,” director Alex Parkinson says.
“Last Breath” is real solid entertainment, a survival film that’s fun, thrilling, compact, and gorgeously shot. Out now. https://t.co/m5DEwrewHK
— Siddhant Adlakha (@SiddhantAdlakha) February 28, 2025
He believes a unique combination of factors kept Lemons’ vitals stable. Just three weeks later, Lemons and his co-workers went back underwater to complete the original repair job. He continues to work as a dive supervisor on the same ship.
“It was very important for him to get back on the horse,” Parkinson remarks. The story highlights the dangers faced by deep-sea divers and the astonishing possibilities of human survival. Saturation diving is one of the world’s most dangerous and isolating professions.
Miraculous rescue beneath the North Sea
Divers spend weeks living onboard ships in pressurized chambers to acclimate to extreme underwater conditions. On the day of the accident, Lemons and Dave Yuasa began work on the manifold, with Allcock assisting from the bell.
A sudden positioning system failure during a violent storm caused the ship to drift rapidly, dragging the bell. Lemons’ umbilical cord snapped as they tried to return, leaving him with minimal oxygen. Lemons managed to find the manifold, climb on top, and clip himself to it before falling unconscious.
A series of near-miss successes allowed the crew to guide the ship back and for Yuasa to rescue Lemons. The crew was convinced they would retrieve a dead body, but Lemons came to after a few assisted breaths from Allcock. “Incredible things can happen when you don’t give up,” Parkinson said.
The crew persisted in the huge storm to rescue Lemons despite the dangers. To this day, there is no concrete explanation for how Lemons survived so long without oxygen and suffered no lasting effects. The most popular theory attributes it to a unique combination of depth, temperature, and the special gas the divers breathe.
“You could say that Chris was the unluckiest person in the world for the accident to happen in the first place,” Parkinson said. “But conversely, he was the luckiest person in the world that all the right people were in the right place at the right time to do the right thing in the exact right sequence to get him rescued and resuscitated. If any one of those things had been different, he would not have survived.
That’s mind-blowing.”