About Michael Jarvis
Welcome to the true accounts of an extraordinary life. From perilous underwater depths and encounters with apex marine life to harrowing industrial close calls and pioneering innovation, discover the real experiences behind Extraordinary True Stories.
Decades beneath the surface and turning points
My journey with the ocean began in 1971 when I joined North Warwick’s Sub-Aqua Club, followed by Solihull Sub-Aqua Club in 1978 and Plymouth Sub-Aqua Club in 1985. Trained rigorously through the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC), I developed my skills at my own pace alongside lifelong friends. Diving brought breathtaking adventures, but also profound trials: in November 1987, I suffered a life-changing air embolism and spent four and a half days inside a decompression chamber. That survival, alongside surviving encounters with a bull shark, gliding on the back of a sea turtle, and being trapped under forty tons of steel, forever altered my perspective on life.
A lifetime of craftsmanship and innovation
Throughout my life, putting food on the table meant turning my hand to varied trades: from working as a lifeguard at Solihull swimming pool and making fishing ground bait, to two years as a car mechanic. Later, I spent sixteen years manufacturing diving undersuits and drysuits, culminating in an order of 10,000 undersuits for a NATO navy. I went on to invent and manufacture a revolutionary self-donning drysuit, earning a prestigious Barclays Bank Technological Innovation Award in 1993 and leading to a memorable personal meeting with Prince Charles to discuss his own diving experiences.
Why I share these extraordinary tales
The inspiration to create my YouTube storytelling channel and this archive came directly from my children, who urged me to record and recount every extraordinary event from my life before my time runs out. My wish is that everyone who watches and reads these accounts gains a heartfelt appreciation of the fragile, wondrous nature of life and walks away genuinely hungry for the next chapter.
"My children asked me to relate the extraordinary events in my life before I die. I hope you appreciate every moment and leave wanting more."
Michael Jarvis
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