Victim’s warning on dive dangers

ALAWYER who was left paralysed after breaking his neck in a diving accident has warned of the dangers of ‘tombstoning’.

Jonathan Fogerty, from Gatley, was just 14 when he smashed his head on the bottom of a swimming pool damaging his spine beyond repair.

It was three months before he could even sit up and he spent a further six months in a specialist rehabilitation unit.

Although some movement returned to his upper body, the teen, with dreams of being in the Army, was forced to face the devastating truth that he would never walk again.

Jonathan, 42, has spoken out in a bid to stop the rising number of teenagers launching themselves off cliffs, bridges and piers into the water.

The terrifying craze, known as ‘ tombstoning,’ has claimed 20 lives in the last decade and caused countless injuries, including earlier this summer when a youngster hurt his shoulder plunging 50ft off Detroit Bridge at Salford Quays.

Jonathan said: “It’s just crazy and very frightening. When they show foot- alien at the side of me, and saying ‘I’m paralysed, I’ve broken my neck’.”

Jonathan now helps people who have suffered serious spinal cord injuries as a lawyer at Slater and Gordon, in the city centre.

He is also a trustee of the Spinal Injuries Association and visits schools to talk to students about his disability and how easily life-changing accidents can happen.

He said: “Teenagers have this concept that they are invincible – I know I did – and that these things won’t happen to them.

“Most assume that I was born with this injury and when I tell my story – that I was an ordinary teenager just like them, diving into a swimming pool which is probably something that every one of them has done – it’s actually very powerful.

“If I can raise awareness and prevent someone from having an accident like mine then it’s worth the effort.”