The parents of a teenager who broke her back after jumping off rocks near Salmon Haul Reserve, in Cronulla, have thanked all those people who helped their daughter following the incident.
A 16-year-old Sutherland girl was jumping off rocks into the water near Salmon Haul Reserve on Friday afternoon.
The girl’s mother, who did not want to be named, said it was the first time her daughter had attempted the leap, after heading out to the jumping spot with a friend, and she didn’t clear the shallow rocks below.
Her mother said she fell about 5m onto rocks, suffering a fractured vertebrae.
Fortunately, she said people nearby, including a nurse, were quick to help out and put her in a safe position for a back injury. Others talked to her and kept her calm as they waited for emergency services to arrive.
People in a boat also arrived quickly to give the injured girl a better platform to lay down on, her mother said.
“I just want to say a big thank you to all those people,” she said. “The paramedic I spoke with said someone there must have been a professional because they had lined her up perfectly for someone with a spinal injury.”
The girl’s mother said she wanted to add a big thank you to all the emergency services who came out and cared for her as well.
Once emergency services arrived, the girl was checked for spinal injuries, carried to a waiting ambulance in the Marine Rescue NSW car park, and driven to St George Hospital.
The teenager underwent about four hours of surgery on Saturday morning following her injuries.
“She fractured her vertebrae,” her mum said. “It came out on an angle. The doctors said if it was the next [vertebrae] up it would have severed her spinal cord.
“We are counting our blessings when you consider what it could have been.”
The girl’s mum said the surgery went well and her daughter should recover well from her broken back following rehabilitation.
She said her daughter had never attempted that jump before, and she wanted to let other parents know about the dangers of having their children jump off the rocks at Salmon Haul Reserve, near Bass and Flinders Point.