Man’s sea dive injury leads to alert over ‘tombstoning’

COASTGUARDS have issued a safety warning after a “tombstoner” was almost killed diving into the sea in front of beachgoers.

The man suffered spinal injuries after leaping from a 6ft sea wall into shallow water in front of a group of friends at Weymouth beach in Dorset.

He appeared to land on his head and was unconscious when he surfaced, causing onlookers to rush to his aid.

Part of the beach was cleared to allow the air ambulance to land, and the casualty was stretchered aboard.

An onlooker, who called 999, said: “We were sitting on the beach when we witnessed a guy dive off the wall by the pavilion into the shallow water.

“When he jumped head first he landed on his head and for a second was on top of the water. People near by helped him on to the beach where I called an ambulance. They assessed him and he then had to be airlifted to hospital in Southampton with suspected neck and back injuries.

“People need to be aware that the water is shallow and people should not dive in.”

The incident took place at about

6.30pm on Saturday in front of a packed beach on one of the hottest days of the year as temperatures reached 86F (30C).

A spokesman for Wyke Coastguard said: “We were paged to reports of an unconscious male pulled from the sea.

“He was treated as a precaution for spinal injuries after entering the water from the sea wall adjacent to the Weymouth Pavilion.

“Jumping from any height into water can and does end with individuals sustaining life changing injuries or worse.

“The depth of water changes with the tide even over a short space of time.”