A horrified mum captured the exact moment her teenage son broke his back in a tombstoning stunt during a family holiday.
Lindsay Wilson, 41, was on a break in Pembrokeshire with her son Sam when they visited the former quarry known as the Blue Lagoon.
The area is popular with people to jump from its high walls into the deep water.
Sam had already made the 30ft jump once and when he climbed up again his mother took out her phone to record it.
Seconds after he splashed into the water it was clear he was injured when the youngster turned pale as he held on to rocks, Wales Live reported.
Eventually he was helped out and rushed to hospital.
Lindsay said: “He should be enjoying his school summer break at the moment, instead he's in terrible pain and can barely move.
“Sam's a big lad for 16 and a fantastic swimmer so we didn't think anything was up initially.
“There were others in the lagoon at the same time and we just thought he was just waiting for them to get out first.
"But then we could see he'd turned pale and was holding onto the rocks."
Lindsay was later told the impact from the height was the equivalent of 'smacking onto concrete'.
She added a woman in the water helped her son in the moments after the impact.
Lindsay said: “She got him on his back and, using a paddleboard as a makeshift stretcher, a few of them swam him over to the shore.
“We're so grateful to them for doing that, I can't imagine what might have happened otherwise."
The teenager was then then airlifted away from the cliffs by a coastguard helicopter to a waiting ambulance before being transferred to hospital in Carmarthen.
Consultants sent Sam for a CT scan which showed that he had a spinal fracture which would require him to wear a body brace.
Lindsay added: “When he was first checked out he must have still been in shock because he told doctors that he couldn't feel any pain in his back - so it's a good job they were so thorough and insisted he have the scan.
"We're just hoping that the injury will heal itself over time and he won't need any surgery."
"In the meantime me and his dad are sleeping on his bedroom floor to make sure he has everything he needs should he wake up in the middle of the night.
"I just want to make sure everyone realises the risks of this sort of thing and ensure no one else has to go through what we've been through.
“But, given there were still kids jumping off the ledge into the water after Sam had his accident, I'm worried that warning's falling on deaf ears."
