Max
10-14-2003, 07:30 AM
tudent paralysed in 'gentle dive' at Clifton
October 14 2003 at 03:52AM
By Jo-Anne Smetherham
He told his story to prevent other people from being injured in what looks like innocuous surfing, but hides dangerous sandbanks, just off the beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay.
"It's a very worthwhile story, even if telling it means that just one person every season will not end up like this," said University of Cape Town (UCT) student Tristan Gorgens, 20, from his hospital bed, his head braced firmly in place.
Gorgens can move his arms, but not his fingers or his legs. It is uncertain to what extent he will recover from his spinal injury.
He addressed the Cape Times by looking at a mirror, set above him at the right angle to reflect the faces of people beside him.
'It's a very worthwhile story'
He was playing frisbee with friends on Clifton's Fourth Beach on Sunday, said Gorgens, who lives in Constantia.
He dived into the waves as he has done many times in the past. The slope of the beach was steep, and he thought it was deep enough for a shallow dive. But the wave sucked him under and he hit his head on a sandbank.
"I couldn't move anything except my neck. I was lying there face down, thrashing around and getting nowhere.
"I just had to desperately hope that someone would spot me.
Towards the end my air was running out - and then I was fished out of the sea, I don't know by whom."
'Everyone thinks Camps Bay is great for bodysurfing'
A doctor stabilised him and he was rushed to a private city hospital. The fifth vertebra from the top of his spine was fractured in the accident and his spinal cord compressed.
He had an operation to remove the fractured vertebra, which was replaced with bone from his hip. Titanium plates now hold the bone in place.
He will soon be transferred to the Southern Cross Hospital, which has a spinal unit.
Gorgens is the recently elected chairperson of Shawco, and runs a project training teenagers in Khayelitsha in leadership skills.
His dream, ironically, has been to become a neuropsychologist - someone who counsels people who have had traumatic injuries like he has just had.
"Tristan takes things on with an unswerving passion. I'm incredibly proud of him. His determination and spirit will make him get as well as is humanly possible," said his mother Barbara.
Nicholas Reyneke, spokesperson for Livesaving South Africa, said three or four bodysurfers sustain spinal injuries every year at Camps Bay and at Clifton's Second, Third and Fourth beaches.
"Everyone thinks Camps Bay is great for bodysurfing. It's not safe," he said.
"The waves suck back, and people get dumped horribly, finding themselves stuck with their heads in the sand."
Lifesavers have been advising people to stop bodysurfing, Reyneke said. City authorities have put up warnings that swimming is dangerous, but these have been vandalised.
"I must say, I've been very lucky every step of the way here - I've had phenomenal help from the word go," said Gorgens. - Health Writer
This article was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Times on October 14, 2003
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October 14 2003 at 03:52AM
By Jo-Anne Smetherham
He told his story to prevent other people from being injured in what looks like innocuous surfing, but hides dangerous sandbanks, just off the beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay.
"It's a very worthwhile story, even if telling it means that just one person every season will not end up like this," said University of Cape Town (UCT) student Tristan Gorgens, 20, from his hospital bed, his head braced firmly in place.
Gorgens can move his arms, but not his fingers or his legs. It is uncertain to what extent he will recover from his spinal injury.
He addressed the Cape Times by looking at a mirror, set above him at the right angle to reflect the faces of people beside him.
'It's a very worthwhile story'
He was playing frisbee with friends on Clifton's Fourth Beach on Sunday, said Gorgens, who lives in Constantia.
He dived into the waves as he has done many times in the past. The slope of the beach was steep, and he thought it was deep enough for a shallow dive. But the wave sucked him under and he hit his head on a sandbank.
"I couldn't move anything except my neck. I was lying there face down, thrashing around and getting nowhere.
"I just had to desperately hope that someone would spot me.
Towards the end my air was running out - and then I was fished out of the sea, I don't know by whom."
'Everyone thinks Camps Bay is great for bodysurfing'
A doctor stabilised him and he was rushed to a private city hospital. The fifth vertebra from the top of his spine was fractured in the accident and his spinal cord compressed.
He had an operation to remove the fractured vertebra, which was replaced with bone from his hip. Titanium plates now hold the bone in place.
He will soon be transferred to the Southern Cross Hospital, which has a spinal unit.
Gorgens is the recently elected chairperson of Shawco, and runs a project training teenagers in Khayelitsha in leadership skills.
His dream, ironically, has been to become a neuropsychologist - someone who counsels people who have had traumatic injuries like he has just had.
"Tristan takes things on with an unswerving passion. I'm incredibly proud of him. His determination and spirit will make him get as well as is humanly possible," said his mother Barbara.
Nicholas Reyneke, spokesperson for Livesaving South Africa, said three or four bodysurfers sustain spinal injuries every year at Camps Bay and at Clifton's Second, Third and Fourth beaches.
"Everyone thinks Camps Bay is great for bodysurfing. It's not safe," he said.
"The waves suck back, and people get dumped horribly, finding themselves stuck with their heads in the sand."
Lifesavers have been advising people to stop bodysurfing, Reyneke said. City authorities have put up warnings that swimming is dangerous, but these have been vandalised.
"I must say, I've been very lucky every step of the way here - I've had phenomenal help from the word go," said Gorgens. - Health Writer
This article was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Times on October 14, 2003
Cape hopes to surf in on best-beaches map
Concourt puts the rich into Richtersveld
Be aware of 'lottery thugs'
HIV carrier convicted for infecting lovers
Just how safe is South African meat?
Sieg Heil - woof!
Download the latest ringtones, gra