Rescue after girl, 13, leaps from bridge

A 13-YEAR-OLD girl who jumped off the bridge at McLaren Falls Park yesterday initially thought she had been paralysed, sparking fresh fears that someone could die making the 12m leap.
Despite warnings from her mother, Vanessa Hughes, who was with a family group visiting from Auckland, decided to follow a group of boys and jump off the bridge shortly before 3.30pm.
Family members said the girl hit the water on her knees. She told those at the bottom her legs were numb.
Firefighters from Tauranga and Greerton worked with Tauranga St John staff to carry the girl on a stretcher off the rocks to an ambulance waiting in the carpark.
Tauranga St John team manager Ken Hansen said once she was examined, it was established the teen had suffered only a minor leg injury. However, he warned that jumping from the bridge could result in paralysis or death. A sign on the bridge warns that people who jump could die.
``We've been to a previous jumper off the bridge who's now paralysed so she's (Vanessa) pretty lucky really," Mr Hansen said.
"The initial call probably indicated that she had a back injury but by the time we got out there we found that she had a minor leg injury," he said.
The girl appeared visibly shaken and upset and told a family friend assisting with her rescue that "she just wanted to go home". The girl was taken by ambulance to Tauranga Hospital where she was treated in the Emergency Department before being released.
Yesterday was not the first time emergency services have been called to the bridge.
In 1995 a Whakatane man wearing jeans died after jumping.
Three months later a 15-year-old girl was taken by helicopter to hospital.
"Jumping off that height could end up in a fatality," Mr Hansen said. "It's the height and what's in the water below and the way you fall (that make it dangerous)," he said.
An ambulance officer was off work today after sustaining a foot injury during the rescue.
"Not only do these people put themselves at risk, they put their rescuers at risk as well," Mr Hansen said.
He estimated St John staff were called to the popular picnic and swimming spot about once every two months, often to people who had slipped on rocks.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council had tried to make the bridge safe by erecting warning signs and encasing the sides with wire netting - some of which has been ripped to allow access to the outer framing, he said.
Transportation manager Alex Finn said the council was responsible for overseeing the bridge but its role mainly involved traffic issues.
He said the accident served as an example of what could happen when jumping from such heights.
"It is certainly a warning of what can go wrong. But the danger aspect is probably what makes it exciting," he said.
Mr Finn said there was little the council could do to stop thrillseekers jumping off the bridge.
"It would be very difficult. Even if you put up a very high fence people will still climb over it."
Brian Patterson, who lives near the park, said at this time of year there were people jumping off the bridge every day and at weekends.
His main concern was for the bridge jumpers and those watching from the top who gathered on the road across the narrow one-lane bridge. "People just mill around on the bridge with no regard for the cars," he said.
He did not believe there were any speed restrictions on the bridge and said pedestrian clip-ons would allow people to cross safely.