Diving is dangerous. Here are 10 actual ways that Shepherd Center patients broke their necks and were paralyzed by diving. Don't dive. Go into the water feet first. www.shepherd.org

1. Ten Proven Ways
to Break Your Neck by Diving

2. #1: Run into the ocean and dive
into a breaking wave.
“I was running into the water. I saw a wave
come and I thought that the water was
deeper. I dove under the wave and after
that I couldn’t feel anything. All the time I
was just praying to God for someone to
save me. Another wave hit me and turned
me face up, so I got some air. Then another
wave hit and turned me face down again.
Finally, two guys came and saved me.”

3. #2: Dive off of a dock, into a bay,
in the dark of the night.
• “I was 17 and had just finished a job as a
lifeguard. I was at a summer party at a
dock. It was dark, murky water. I judged it
to be 4 to 5 feet deep, and the dock was 3
feet above the water. I dove in and
shattered my C-5 vertebra. We have
pictures of where I dove, and there’s no
way to tell it’s that shallow. I’d never been
there before. I’m an Eagle Scout and a Boy
Scout, and I’d always been taught to go in
feet first. I never thought about a neck
injury. I wish I’d gone in feet first. I knew I
should have and I just didn’t do it. It’s
something I have to live with.”

4. #3: Dive off of a 6-foot-high dock
into a river that is 3 feet deep.
“I was drinking quite a bit that night, and I
was fairly drunk. We'd been wrestling on the
ground, and I came up with the idea to jump
in the river. The dock was about 6 feet
above the river. Right before I jumped in, my
brother said, 'Don't dive!’ The water there
was really clear, but it was really late at
night. The water was only 3 feet deep, if
that. It was an embankment that I hit. My
brother came out the next day and took
pictures. There was an indentation where I
hit.”

5. #4: Dive into any swimming pool,
anywhere, any time
(particularly if you are 5 feet, 11 inches tall and the
pool is only 5 feet deep).

6. #5: Do a flip off of a skim board at
the beach and dive into the water.

7. #6: Dive head first into the water
after coming down a slide.

8. #7: Get a running start and dive
into an above-ground pool.

9. #8: Dive from a trampoline
into a pool.

10. #9: Slide head first down a
houseboat slide into the water.

11. #10: Horse around at a waterfall,
slip and dive into the stream.

12. Don’t dive.
Go into the water feet first.