Skydiver’s injuries not as serious — club
'Paramedic on scene did over exaggerate,' says ER24 spokesperson.
A media statement released by ER24 about a 33-year-old woman who was found in a serious condition after a skydiving incident has been retracted after the Johannesburg Skydiving Club denied the severity of the injuries.
According to the initial report by ER24 the woman was found at the skydiving club’s drop zone with severe back injuries after she lost consciousness during her jump. The story was quickly reposted by many social media sites and online news publications.
According to Beverly Cosslett, Chief Instructor at the skydiving club, the 33-year old woman did not sustain any major injuries and information was incorrectly given by an ER24 paramedic who treated the woman on scene.
“We have asked that the story be retracted and for everyone to stop reporting on the incident. ER24 was called out to the scene as precautionary measure but she did not have any serious injuries,” Cosslett said.
ER24’s Spokesperson, Russel Meiring said that there was a miscommunication between the on duty paramedic who was dispatched to the scene.
“The paramedic who arrived on the scene did over exaggerate the severity of the woman’s injuries in his report. We have confirmed that the woman did indeed pass out during her jump but regained consciousness again and then hurt her lower back when she landed. We want to apologize to all parties involved for the wrong information given in the report and we have retracted the article from all our blogs and websites,” Meiring said.
Meiring added that as a precautionary procedure and as with all extreme sports the woman was given pain medication at the scene and then airlifted to the Millpark Private Hospital in Parktown West, where she was given a proper examination and then cleared to go home the same day.
“The report caused major waves in the skydiving community and even with the family of the woman who started contacting us frantically when it really wasn’t as serious as was reported,” Cosslett added.
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