Left with no hope after an injury, he rolled his wheelchair off a dock in central Pa.

Kaitlin Greenockle
The Evening Sun

One moment, David Kettering was sitting on a dock in his wheelchair with his caregivers enjoying one last warm day before the chill of fall set in. 

The next moment, Kettering had made his choice. He plunged himself and his wheelchair under about 15 feet of water.

Kettering, 58, a quadriplegic from Stewartstown, died by suicide Sunday, Oct. 15, at Codorus State Park after he intentionally rolled his wheelchair off the dock.

Background:Social posts, texts led to suicide ruling for man in wheelchair's death

More:Man in wheelchair drowns at Codorus State Park marina

That day, he didn't appear sad, and he wasn't depressed, according to Sacha Taylor, one of his caregivers, of Stewartstown.

Kettering was at the marina taking in the beautiful weather down at the dock, something he used to do with his son. 

Boats were coming back to shore, and people were all around. Taylor never saw it coming.

They had just been at the picnic tables eating pizza before the three of them walked down to the dock.

After Kettering rolled off the dock, Taylor got on the phone with 911 and another caregiver jumped in after him.

"She jumped right in and was trying and trying, and I thought she was going to drown herself," Taylor said.

The lifeguards came and then gave up because they knew it had been too long, but his caregiver kept trying, she said.

Taylor was just a few feet away from him, but there was nothing she could do. Kettering was declared dead at about 6 p.m. 

"I wish I had known, been able to stop him," she said.

Sacha Taylor was one of David Kettering's caregivers for the past two years.

Taylor spent about 100 hours a week with Kettering for the past two years, and he had become her best friend. 

"I don't agree with what he did, but I understand what he did, and it should be his choice," Taylor said.

***

Kettering had an adventurous spirit before a skiing accident left him confined to a wheelchair. He detailed his life — before and after the accident — in five chapters posted on his blog.

He was an adrenaline junkie, seeking out "experiences beyond the norm."

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Kettering enjoyed "intense" activities like skiing, snowshoeing, paragliding and mountaineering. He introduced aviation to his son, and they attended many air shows together. 

His love of hiking turned him to mountaineering. He trained in New Hampshire and Mount Shuksan, Washington. All told, Kettering climbed about 10 major peaks in the Cascade mountain range, including Mount Rainier.

He watched other climbers soar down mountains by powered paragliding, and he had to try it. The idea of "flying like a bird" appealed to his adventurous nature.

He trained in Maryland and then took his first flight. 

"It lasted only 2 minutes where I went and made a few circles around a grassy field," he wrote, "but was able to turn right and left, go up and down at will ... I truly felt like a bird who could fly wherever I wanted."

Paragliding became Kettering's "primary passion." He traveled up and down the East Coast, joining other flyers for weekend "fly-ins."

The accessibility of the sport appealed to him, as he often took flight from neighbors' backyards.

Kettering wrote, "Paragliding became my sport of choice up until the end of my "first life."

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David Kettering and a friend at Pinnacle Rock a few months ago.

***

The accident happened on Dec. 29, 2014, a "beautiful sunny day with a bright blue sky."

Kettering and his son were on a skiing trip at Mount Snow in Vermont, a mountain Kettering had skied many times before. 

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Kettering tried to go over a small snow feature — no higher than 3 feet, according to his blog. His son waited for him just below.

He had no memory of what happened next.

"I was going no more than 5 mph approaching the feature, the next thing I remember was lying flat, face down in the snow, and I couldn't move my body," Kettering wrote.

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At Albany Trauma Center, he was diagnosed with a bruised spinal cord in the C4 region, and a surgeon performed a neck fusion.

He was left a quadriplegic. 

He spent eight weeks at a rehab facility in Philadelphia before returning home. He had no functional use of his feet, toes, heels, legs, hands and fingers.

***

In his blog, Kettering detailed his day-to-day life and struggle with depression. 

"It was not easy for such an active man to be stuck in a chair," said Suzy Reimold, of York, a caregiver who had been helping him for the past few months.

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Everyday tasks — showering, getting dressed, getting out of bed — were excruciatingly difficult for Kettering, who required round-the-clock caregivers.

"On a daily basis, I experience constant discomfort, severe depression, loneliness and no hope for the future," he wrote.

He wrote that his depression was at its worst when he woke in the morning, realizing he was unable to move. 

Getting dressed often took two hours. Showering took about 50 minutes and was only done twice a month, because it left his caregivers "physically drained." He was "fed like a child." 

Story continues below; this video shows footage from the scene of Kettering's death:

His days often ended at about 9 p.m., when a caregiver helped him get ready for bed.

"As I roll back to my room, I am consumed with the realization that another day of my life in misery has passed just to start the same routine all over again when morning arrives," Kettering wrote.

He filled his time checking emails, looking at Facebook and watching Netflix, but those "limited activities and being stuck in the house, often (brought) out anxiety, frustration, anger, and depression." 

Reimold didn't really see suicide as something that Kettering was actually going to do. She said she saw hints of suicide, but nothing specific. 

He contrasted his life before the accident to life after in the final chapter of his blog called, "My Life Today." 

"Now living alone in my condo full-time, I feel trapped, like being in prison, staring at the same walls and ceiling," he wrote. "Experiencing this daily, I have shed buckets of tears."

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At the end of his final entry in his blog, Kettering shared his "most positive learning" from his accident. 

"For those of you blessed to not be like me, always treasure your health and work hard to keep it that way. Love life and seek new goals to experience all that it offers. Dream up new dreams and then make a plan for them to happen. Find happiness and let it shine to others, especially family and friends. Be there for those close to you when they are in need.  Life is short and you never know when it could become shorter."

***

Kettering intentionally rolled off the Codorus State Park dock at about 5 p.m. Oct. 15 and was under about 15 feet of water when emergency personnel got to him, according to Department of Conservation and Natural Resources park manager Deanna Schall.

Kettering was strapped into his wheelchair when he entered the water, according to Earl Hockenberry, Codorus State Park assistant manager.  

The York County Coroner was called to the scene and pronounced him dead at about 6 p.m.

Codorus State Park Rangers are investigating the death. It was first reported that a note was found nearby, but it was a Facebook post and personal texts to family that supported the coroner's ruling of his death as a suicide, according to York County Coroner Pam Gay.

There will be no autopsy or toxicology performed since the cause of death, drowning, and manner of death, suicide, have already been determined, Gay said.

To help

Visit www.take5tosavelives.org to learn about the warning signs of suicide and steps to take if you know someone exhibiting one of those signs.

For help, contact Crisis Intervention at 1-800-673-2496 or 717-851-5320, the York County Suicide Prevention Coalition at 717-227-0048, or the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Reach Kaitlin Greenockle at 717-634-3086