Thrill-seekers’

A fast-rising toll of death and serious spinal injury linked to a beloved tradition is forcing authorities to act. Sally Wenley reports.

After hitting the bottom I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even lift my head out of the water. Then everything went dark and I sort of drowned.’ GUS VAEONO

‘‘I was caught in the moment and thought it was safe to dive off the wharf at Maraetai.’’

It was the last step Gus Vaeono is likely to take. He broke his neck hitting the bottom in shallow water and is now a tetraplegic.

Prior to his devastating dive a small support group for people with spinal injuries tried to alert Auckland Council about the increasing number of accidents off that particular wharf and offered to help with ideas for warning signs. But no one from the council made a serious effort to follow the issue up until it was too late for Vaeono.

‘‘I was there in January with family and saw people jumping off so thought it was deep enough,’’ Vaeono said. ‘‘But after hitting the bottom I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even lift my head out of the water. Then everything went dark and I sort of drowned. The next thing I remember is people around me and lying on the beach.’’

Vaeono spent several weeks in South Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital, where metal pins were put in his neck to stabilise his damaged spine, and three months in the Otara spinal unit.

‘‘I have a bit of movement in my arms and hands. And that’s about it at the moment.’’

Vaeono was shocked to learn three other young men had also become quadriplegics from diving off the same wharf.

This is a nationwide problem. Accident Compensation Corporation figures show a staggering nationwide increase in the number of injuries from an activity many New Zealanders enjoy every summer.

Last year 230 ACC claims were lodged , in 2010 there were nearly 160 and back in 2002 the number of accidents was just 17. They range from cuts and bruises to serious surgery for shattered ankles and damaged spines.

The Waikato Regional Council knows all about wharf and bridge-jumping injuries. At Raglan, where many flock to jump and dive in on hot summer days, several have suffered broken legs in shallow water. Last year Richard Keremeta, 16, was killed when another jumper from the estuary footbridge accidentally landed on top of him.

Keremeta was a ‘‘kind, loving boy’’, grandmother Tani Keremeta told a coroner’s inquiry. ‘‘He had [jumped the bridge] for years – two or three times a day. Raglan was the love of his life.’’

Keremeta’s death led to the council putting up signs at both ends of the footbridge, warning against jumping.

But council general manager Tim Harty says they have been taken down by locals or visitors at least six times in recent months. ‘‘We have replaced them, and as an additional measure have stencilled a warning message on the footpath at both ends.’’

So to what lengths must councils go to protect people from themselves?

Peter Pole was 18 when he did exactly the same thing at Gus Vaeono at Maraetai wharf. And he suffered the same injury.

‘‘I think they should have a security guard or something at that place over summer as lots of people go there for a dive or whatever,’’ Pole said.

‘‘I try to tell my friends they shouldn’t dive off the wharf like I did. But I think they ignore me and still do it.’’

Two years ago The Association for Spinal Concerns (TASC) rang the local Auckland Council office urging for warnings at Maraetai.

The peer support organisation, based at the Otara spinal unit, is run by wheelchair users. Office manager Anita O’Connor says council officials fobbed her off several times.

‘‘I kept being told to ring back and was pissed off about being passed from pillar to post.’’

O’Connor says last year a council spokesperson told her signs had been put up but they were apparently promptly ripped down.

TASC president Gavin Parish joined the campaign, and this month he met two council staff members at the wharf.

He pushed for the signs to contain a strong visual graphic, for visitors who did not