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Teenage girl hurt 'tombstoning' | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A teenage girl who jumped from 20ft (6.1m) into water that was less than 2ft (0.6m) deep is lucky to be alive, lifeboat crews have said. | |
The 14-year-old, of Southwick, West Sussex, was "tombstoning" with friends on Wednesday evening when she leapt from a breakwater at Shoreham Harbour. | |
She was airlifted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with spinal injuries. | She was airlifted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with spinal injuries. |
The youngsters were videoing each other jumping off the breakwater when the girl leapt into the shallow water. | |
A spokesman for the RNLI said witnesses saw the girl make a running jump and land feet first. | |
Spinal compression | |
He said she was dragged out of the sea by three friends and members of the inshore lifeboat crew gave her first aid. | |
The girl was then airlifted to hospital by the Solent-based coastguard helicopter, with suspected spinal compression injuries and abrasions to her face. | |
A spokesman for Shoreham Lifeboat warned against "tombstoning" - where people jump from cliffs or high structures into the sea. | A spokesman for Shoreham Lifeboat warned against "tombstoning" - where people jump from cliffs or high structures into the sea. |
Mark Hayes, who helped rescue the girl, said: "In some cases people consider it an extreme sport but unfortunately they only see the good side of it, they don't see the bad side." | Mark Hayes, who helped rescue the girl, said: "In some cases people consider it an extreme sport but unfortunately they only see the good side of it, they don't see the bad side." |