This horrifying incident occurred when a young “tombstoner” leaped off a steep cliff and into the water, setting off a storm of condemnation.
In the vicinity of his beachfront residence on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, 21-year-old Aaron Thomas claims to have five years of experience skydiving.
On social media, the thrill seeker shared a heart-pounding video of himself jumping off a cliff close to Pulpit Rock.
He can be seen in the video making a running jump from the 70-foot ledge and landing just a few meters from a big semi-submerged rock.
Tombstoning is the practice of leaping off a high ledge or cliff while remaining vertical and upright.
Social media users blasted him for his carelessness after one woman claimed to know a tombstoner who had been rendered wheelchair-bound after a bad leap.
I went to school with a skilled swimmer and jumper who is now permanently wheelchair-bound after misjudging the rocks, Katrina Gall cautioned. Once done, there is no turning back.
Jason Brown complimented Mr. Thomas on receiving the “Darwin Award” for ignorance in another place.
However, independent bricklayer Mr. Thomas dismissed the criticism, adding that technique is “safe if you know what you’re doing.”
Mr. Thomas asserted that he was carrying on the legacy of his 40-year-old father Dave Thomas, a lifelong tombstoner.
I’ve heard a lot of people complain about it, but as long as you know what you’re doing, it’s OK, he added.
My father has done it all of his life and has never damaged himself. He still adores it at the age of forty.
I hear a lot of older individuals complaining and claiming that the situation is dangerous because you can’t see the rocks.
However, we snorkle there first to determine the depth.
We always jump during high tide since there is just one rock there, and if it is submerged, the tide is high enough.
There is a 70-foot drop there, thus a depth of roughly 13 feet is required.
I had one person tag their partner and exclaim, “OMG we need to do this,” after someone remarked that now all the youngsters would copy me.
It is concerning that I don’t even believe they were from Portland.
They only need to ensure that they go out with a responsible companion.
If he ever got harmed, he continued, he would “had to deal with it.”
The National Coastwatch Institution at Portland Bill responded by issuing a warning that tombstoning was “extremely risky” and that jumpers ran the risk of being carried away by powerful currents.
The Portland Bill lookout’s deputy station manager, Bob Ward, stated: “Tombstoning is unquestionably an extremely dangerous pastime.
Any tombstoner is at risk of being carried away by the tide because the tide surrounding Portland Bill may reach speeds of more than four knots depending on the time of day.
The shoreline is highly dangerous, so jumpers need to be careful. That is one of our concerns.
On Saturday, it was revealed that a young guy who “tombstoned” from a sea stack in Devon and injured his leg in the process provoked a coastguard rescue operation.
On Saturday at around 3.30 pm, several rescue crews were dispatched to the Imperial Hotel by the Peaked Tor Cove beach in Torquay after a man fell into the water from a height and suffered leg injuries.
A group of 12 youngsters were captured on camera jumping off the vertical rock column at around 2:00 pm.
HM Coastguard’s Torbay, Berryhead, and South West Ambulance Services as well as the Hazardous Area Response Team were dispatched to the scene in less than two hours.
In the video, a sizable gathering of children are seen gathered at the cliff’s brink before falling down.
It appeared to be highly dangerous, a witness who recorded the incident told DevonLive.
They made a lot of noise when they hit the water. Some of them appeared to be extremely near to the rocks as they descended.
HM Coastguard’s Torbay and Berryhead Coastguard Rescue Teams, the Torbay RNLI lifeboat, the South West Ambulance Service, and HART were dispatched to assist a casualty with a suspected leg injury on the coast of Torquay at approximately 3.30 p.m. today, according to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson.
“The wounded was transported by the lifeboat from a less convenient area of the shore and transferred into the custody of the ambulance service.”
A woman who tombstoned from the 50-foot-high Devil’s Bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, into the River Lune last July was left wheelchair-bound for months.
Libbey Sinden, 22, “burst” her spine on contact, had to relearn how to walk, and spent the next four months in a wheelchair.
Before the significant fall, the woman, who was only wearing swimwear, “nervously” stared down and stated hitting the water was “like striking a brick wall,” looked down.
Ms. Sinden, a resident of Preston, Lancashire, had her fall documented on film, showing her struggling in the water and yelling, “I hurt my back.”
The medical professional finally dragged herself to the water’s edge, where she was helpless but to lie there in agony for three and a half hours while the fire department, an ambulance, and mountain rescue were dispatched to assist her.
She was sent urgently to Preston Royal Hospital for a six-hour spine procedure.
As she warns of the risks of jumping off bridges and cliffs into water could “alter their entire life,” Ms. Sinden now begs others not to imitate her.