Cliff jump daredevils risk death off Byron Bay

A DAREDEVIL craze dubbed "tombstoning" has left two thrillseekers with broken backs after their clifftop leaps went horribly wrong.

A DAREDEVIL craze dubbed "tombstoning" has left two thrillseekers with broken backs after their clifftop leaps went horribly wrong.

A 15-year-old boy and an American backpacker, 21, were almost paralysed when they leapt 30m from a quarry ledge into a giant waterhole in Byron Bay.

Tweed Hospital emergency department director Dr Rob Davies said staff had treated five similar cases in the past two years.

He issued a chilling warning: "Don't jump, unless you want to become a paraplegic."

He added: "It is called tombstoning because some don't survive."

The latest case happened last Sunday when the American backpacker broke two vertebrae.

"She has been spared surgery, but others have not and we're concerned someone will lose the use of their legs," Dr Davis said.

The other boy, a local teen, was lucky not to have been paralysed. Jack Pollock, from nearby Pottsville, has eight pins and two rods in his back after breaking two vertebrae last month.

"It's a miracle he's not in a wheelchair because he came within 3mm of severing his spinal cord," his mother Christine said.

"It's a really popular waterhole and a lot of tourists go there. Something needs to be done."

Jack said he was hesitant before he jumped and knew as soon as he hit the water he had hurt himself badly.

"I just screamed and I couldn't swim and when my friends got me out, I couldn't walk," he said.

"I only thought about hitting the bottom, but hitting the water is what did the damage."

A rock quarry that was closed 30 years ago, it is now an arts and eco community park, called iQ, on leased Crown land.

The quarry jumping is promoted to backpackers as a tourism experience.

But iQ trust chairman Shane Renee said he had pleaded with hostels to stop promoting the site. "It's a community park developed for the community and we don't want to be shut down," Mr Renee said.

The website of one hostel, Nomads Backpackers, had said Island Quarry was a place to go "for a refreshing swim and jump off three different cliffs into the water if you are brave enough!"

Nomads Byron manager Karine Boucher said it no longer promoted the quarry. The web page has been removed.