Diving into shallow or unknown water can lead to spinal cord injury this National Water Safety Week

The trustees of SPIRIT would like to mark National Water Safety Week in the UK which starts on Monday 6th June.

The focus of the safety week is on the number of people who drown in unknown water around the UK every year.

We should not forget however that many people around the world are also left paralysed through spinal cord injury after diving into unknown or shallow water.

A statistic often quoted is that in the UK, every eight hours somebody is left paralysed through spinal cord injury. A spinal cord injury happens in the simplest of circumstances and when one is least prepared.

Jonathan Fogerty, a trustee of spirit was left spinal cord injured himself after diving into a swimming pool.

Jonathan commented as follows:

“I am pleased to support National Water Safety Week. I do talks at local schools about spinal cord injury and the dangers of unknown or shallow water and anything we can do to raise awareness of these dangers is really positive.”

You can learn more about National Water Safety Week and to download a free guide with advice on staying safe in and around water here.

SPIRIT is a charity that supports the learning about the treatment of spinal cord injury in countries all over the world.

SPIRIT provides grants for doctors and other healthcare professionals to travel to the UK and to learn about our spinal cord injury centre service and learn new skills.

To donate to SPIRIT and continue the work we do as a charity follow this link.