Man, 75, hurt in 'tombstone' cliff dive

[Fittster]

"Coastguards have warned people about jumping off cliffs in a practice known as "tombstoning" after a 75-year-old man was injured by diving 30ft (9m).

Portland Coastguard was called to Durdle Door at 1504 BST on Sunday after the swimmer got into difficulties.

It is believed the Dorset man, who had jumped from the cliff before, had landed badly in the water.

He was later taken to hospital with severe abdominal pains after being rescued by helicopter.

A coastguard spokesman said: "What was being done here was tombstoning, jumping from rocks.
The pensioner was understood to be diving into the sea from the Jurassic Coast World Heritage landmark with other members of his family.

James Weld, of the Lulworth Estate which owns the beauty spot, said people continued to take part in the dangerous activity despite a number of signs warning people not to climb the cliffs.

"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.

"The hard limestone reef along the coast means there are a lot of rocks just under the water."

bbc



Was the bowls club closed???

[Mr AJ]

What they didn't show on the news was the even more impressive method of transport the Old bugger used to get to the cliffs:

[DangerousMike]

shock, horror: people ignore signs and decide for themselves what risks they are prepared to take. HOW CAN THIS BE ALLOWED?!

Edited by DangerousMike on Monday 12th July 17:56

[becksW]

DangerousMike said:

shock, horror: people ignore signs and decide for themselves what risks they are prepared to take. HOW CAN THIS BE ALLOWED?!

Edited by DangerousMike on Monday 12th July 17:56

All well and good but then these guys who ignore the warnings then expect to be rescued.

[Somewhatfoolish]

becksW said:

DangerousMike said:

shock, horror: people ignore signs and decide for themselves what risks they are prepared to take. HOW CAN THIS BE ALLOWED?!

Edited by DangerousMike on Monday 12th July 17:56

All well and good but then these guys who ignore the warnings then expect to be rescued.

So? That's what the rescue service is for. Wouldn't be rescuing people who didn't take any risks.

[stitched]

75 year old bloke leaping from a cliff and there are PH'ers who think this is inappropriate behavior?
What, was the cliff too low?

[EDLT]

30ft doesn't seem very high, he could have just gone to the local swimming pool.

[maniac0796]

EDLT said:

30ft doesn't seem very high, he could have just gone to the local swimming pool.

The highest I've dived from was 10ft in the Netherlands, and it actually hurts a lot lot more then you'd expect if you land badly. So I imagine 30ft wouldn't be comfortable to land badly from.

[Ferg]

Somewhatfoolish said:

So? That's what the rescue service is for. Wouldn't be rescuing people who didn't take any risks.

Big difference between something as moronic as this and sailors and fishermen who get into difficulties in difficult sea conditions.
Love to see the Toombstoning tts get out on an RNLI boat.

[Somewhatfoolish]

Ferg said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

So? That's what the rescue service is for. Wouldn't be rescuing people who didn't take any risks.

Big difference between something as moronic as this and sailors and fishermen who get into difficulties in difficult sea conditions.
Love to see the Toombstoning tts get out on an RNLI boat.

There's are differences but that doesn't make one better than the other. Both provide a reward in return for risk.

[Wacky Racer]

Ferg said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

So? That's what the rescue service is for. Wouldn't be rescuing people who didn't take any risks.

Big difference between something as moronic as this and sailors and fishermen who get into difficulties in difficult sea conditions.
Love to see the Toombstoning tts get out on an RNLI boat.

^^^^

Wot he said.

[paddyhasneeds]

EDLT said:

30ft doesn't seem very high, he could have just gone to the local swimming pool.

Admittedly I'm not fond of heights, but I remember once making it to the top of the local swimming pool diving platform which I think was a whopping great 5m high.

You could not pay me to jump off that fker into the water, so what possesses someone to do the equivalent, into water which they're unfamiliar with, escapes me.

[Ferg]

Somewhatfoolish said:

Ferg said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

So? That's what the rescue service is for. Wouldn't be rescuing people who didn't take any risks.

Big difference between something as moronic as this and sailors and fishermen who get into difficulties in difficult sea conditions.
Love to see the Toombstoning tts get out on an RNLI boat.

There's are differences but that doesn't make one better than the other. Both provide a reward in return for risk.

Yeah. Ones a livelihood, ones for kicks. If they want excitement let them go out on the boat. wkers.

[OnTheOverrun]

Ferg said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

So? That's what the rescue service is for. Wouldn't be rescuing people who didn't take any risks.

Big difference between something as moronic as this and sailors and fishermen who get into difficulties in difficult sea conditions.
Love to see the Toombstoning tts get out on an RNLI boat.

Smokers read the warnings and expect medical care if they get cancer, people who get pissed on a Friday night and fall over expect an ambulance to save them and people who buy ditchfinders expect help when they find a ditch at 60mph.

All different degrees of risk.

[Gargamel]

PH displaying its usual fantastic mix of rabid right wing, with a massive dose of nannying of individuals.

He landed badly, he didn't smash himself on the rocks. Plenty of people down the ages have jumped or dived for FUN. What happens at a track day when you run out of talent?

[Marf]

Far worse has happened.

Don't google 'dive split face' if you have a weak stomach. A true "what has been seen" moment

[Tunku]

He's 75 years old. Maybe he just tripped.

[Somewhatfoolish]

Ferg said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

Ferg said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

So? That's what the rescue service is for. Wouldn't be rescuing people who didn't take any risks.

Big difference between something as moronic as this and sailors and fishermen who get into difficulties in difficult sea conditions.
Love to see the Toombstoning tts get out on an RNLI boat.

There's are differences but that doesn't make one better than the other. Both provide a reward in return for risk.

Yeah. Ones a livelihood, ones for kicks. If they want excitement let them go out on the boat. wkers.

So what about it being a livelihood?

Both livelihoods and kicks benefit society. Let's do some basic hedonic calculus here... gets a bit fuzzy...

[matchmaker]

Somewhatfoolish said:

becksW said:

DangerousMike said:

shock, horror: people ignore signs and decide for themselves what risks they are prepared to take. HOW CAN THIS BE ALLOWED?!

Edited by DangerousMike on Monday 12th July 17:56

All well and good but then these guys who ignore the warnings then expect to be rescued.

So? That's what the rescue service is for. Wouldn't be rescuing people who didn't take any risks.

As a former lifeboatman, I much preferred rescuing people who got into trouble through no fault of their own, rather than the fkwits who took stupid risks and relied on the emergency services to save their sorry asses!

[Flanders.]

Marf said:

Far worse has happened.

Don't google 'dive split face' if you have a weak stomach. A true "what has been seen" moment

fk me! Thats fking bad. fk.