What to Know
A 17-year-old boy from San Diego, Calif. Was severely injured when he hit a rock after cliff jumping into the ocean from the top of Sunset Cliffs. The area, which is popular, but illegal, for cliff jumping, features cliffs that are around 120 feet above the ocean. However, there are rocks that jut out from the cliffside and the water can be shallow in spots depending on the tide, making it a dangerous place for anyone, let alone teenage jumpers.
According to Fox 5 San Diego, a rope rescue system was used to pull the unnamed teen from where he was in the water, staying afloat thanks to other swimmers who jumped in after him. He was then taken to a nearby hospital. Although teens and older, college-aged adults had been able to skirt the law by cliff jumping in this area for some time, chances are, there will be stricter rules in place to even gain access to the area.
The boy was taken from the area by paramedics and firefighters.
@furbito.tv Así fue como un joven de 17 años se arrojó al acantilado de Sunset Cliffs esta tarde, los bomberos le trasladaron al hospital con lesiones. Las autoridades recordaron que es ilegal aventarse a los acantilados y cualquier punto a más de cinco pies de altura sobre el nivel del agua a lo largo del Océano Pacífico y la zona de Mission Bay
♬ sonido original – Detonamental
In a video that has gone viral on social media, you can see the boy jump from the cliff, only to have his backside hit a rock that juts out from the side of the cliff. The boy then falls into the water before he comes back up for air. Luckily, he didn’t hit his head or any of his other body parts on the rock, but he was unable to walk away from the accident unscathed.
A spokesperson for San Diego Fire-Rescue, Candace Hadley, spoke to the Daily Mail about the unsafe nature of Sunset Cliffs. She also shared that local laws prohibit people from jumping into the ocean from anything that is higher than five feet above the water.
Despite the law in place, Hadley told the outlet, “We see it a lot though, especially during the summer months when folks are out and about.”
She also said, “We really want folks to enjoy our coastline, but we want them to do it safely and to just avoid that.” Fox 5 San Diego reported that, even after the dangerous jump resulted in a serious injury, witnesses saw teenagers attempting the same jumps from Sunset Cliffs.
It was illegal for him to jump from the cliff.
It’s not clear how serious the teen’s injuries were following the jump. Local authorities did not publicly share if the teenager will face legal consequences for failing to comply with local laws about cliff jumping in San Diego. For some frequent jumpers, though, there is the concern that the injury could be a wakeup call for authorities rather than teenagers who cliff jump.
In the comments under a TikTok that shows a different group of people jumping, flipping, and diving off the cliffside, users speculated on a potential crackdown of the area at some point.
“I know the city council and [Mayor] Todd Gloria will put fences there now,” one person commented. “Thanks guys.”
Another person asked, “Closest cross street?” Instead of being deterred by the accident, some new cliff jumpers may even be inspired to try it out, and that, it seems, is the opposite of what local authorities and rescue workers want to happen.
It’s a popular cliff jumping spot in San Diego.
People who claim to be familiar with the Sunset Cliffs area discussed the dangers of these jumps in a Reddit thread. One user wrote that they know of someone who jumped the cliff at low tide and blew out his knees because the water was so low, a detail that some teen jumpers might not take into consideration.
Others commented to say that kids jump from the cliffs “all the time.” Does that make it a good idea, though? Judging by this accident alone, probs not.
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