A DIVER has spent a record 53 hours recovering inside a hyperbaric chamber after completing a 45 minute ascent in just two minutes.

Terry Begnoche’s bloodstream was flooded with nitrogen bubbles, cutting off blood to his spinal cord and other body parts, in the botched September 18 dive.

The experienced diver, who was filming a shipwreck off the coast of Grand Marais in Michigan, forgot to put on a weight that would have controlled his rise to the water’s surface.

When he reached the top, he lost control of his arms and legs and could feel pins and needles across his body.

“What I was worried most about was holding my breath if I panicked, because that could have caused a fatal embolism in his lungs. Panic is what really kills people,” Begnoche, a university lecturer, told Star Tribune.

Begnoche was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis on a low-altitude flight, with doctors attempting a rare treatment they found in a Navy diving manual.

Doctor’s said the 64-year-old’s body had become like a “human soft drink bottle” that had been shaken up but still had a lid on.

Over two days, Begnoche sat in the hyperbaric chamber which had the same dimensions as

his dive depth.

The chamber provided an oxygen-rich environment enabling the nitrogen to turn from bubbles into a solution that could safely leave Begnoche’s body.

Doctors don’t know if Begnoche will make a full recovery. He has since regained control of his movements but can’t walk or move his legs.

“It’s such a rare event, it’s impossible to tell,” Dr Chris Logue said. “What we’ve gained back, I’m thrilled about.”

Begnoche was with a group of volunteers filming the ship, which sunk in 1899, on behalf of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum when the accident happened.