A 75-year-old retired army major was branded “very, very stupid” after he dived off a 100ft beauty spot and ended up being airlifted to hospital.
Christopher Irven decided to go “tombstoning” from Durdle Door in Dorset and tried to carry out a swallow dive into the water, despite protests from his family. The stunt went badly wrong and the pensioner – thought to be Britain oldest tombstoner – had to be rescued and treated for abdominal pains.
Tombstoning is a craze more linked to teenagers and a 19-year-old boy died in Somerset last month when he leapt into a quarry lake in Somerset.
James Weld, of the Lulworth Estate which owns the beauty spot, said tombstoning was popular despite the warning signs.
“It's actually a very, very stupid thing to do because there are a lot of rocks under the water, which we and the coastguards try to tell people frequently," he said.
“To find somebody of 75 doing it, I just find completely unbelievable.
“We had one a couple of years ago where somebody was nearly killed, a young man doing the same thing.”
Mr Irven, a father of seven and grandfather of 19, was on holiday with his family at a holiday park near Durdle Door. On Sunday,he was with two of his sons when he clambered half way up the rocky outcrop and plunged 40ft into the water. Instead of landing in a dive, he fell in a belly-flop, tearing his swimming shorts and suffering injuries to his groin and stomach.
When he surfaced, he called out in pain and had to be pulled from the sea by his sons.
He was given oxygen on the beach, before being airlifted by helicopter to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester and released after treatment.
Mr Irven said he had dived successfully on the Saturday and was trying to repeat the feat when it all went wrong.
“I might be 75-years-old but I am very fit for my age and fairly adventurous,” he said. “I tend to do things that might be daunting to other people.
“The dive was a bit of a cock-up and I hit the water at a bad angle, it was too shallow.
“My face, chest, tummy and legs took a battering. It was rather like being badly winded and my bits hurt a bit.
“I started to swim back to shore but couldn't and my two sons and another fella came and got me out.
“I lay down and a bit of shock set in then the medics arrived and said I ought to go to hospital.”
Mr Irven, a veteran of the first Gulf War, said he felt like he had gone 10 rounds with a heavy weight boxer.
“I have got some bruising today but I am OK. If I do it again I will make sure I get it right next time.”
But his actions were condemned by the coastguard.
Steve Pack, from the Lulworth coastguard, said: “What was being done here was tombstoning, jumping from rocks.
“His family tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen and went ahead with it.
“He hit the water hard and from a height of 30ft to 40ft that is like landing on concrete.
“He shouldn't have been doing it, especially at his age. You thought he would know better. You normally associate tombstoning with teenagers.”
Mr Pack said Mr Irven had hurt himself on his first dive on Saturday.
“I think that when he dived the first time he hit the water so hard that it left red marks on top of his head.”
The Telegraph:13-7-10 Post Title
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