Fourth swimmer breaks neck in less than week
A 19-year-old Panama City man is the fourth person to suffer a broken neck in a swimming accident in less than a week.
This time, however, the location was 50 miles north of the gulf.
It occurred at Vortex Springs, a dive training center near Ponce de Leon. The man, whose family did not want his name released, was injured Friday and transported to Gulf Coast Medical Center, hospital officials said. His injuries were not nearly as severe as the other three men and he was released from the hospital Monday, said Rod Whiting, the hospital’s director of marketing.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week, three tourists in their 20s were knee deep in the gulf at different areas of the beach when they dove into waves and floated up paralyzed. All three remain paralyzed from the chest down.
The first two victims, Christopher Hamilton and Jonathan Heathcoat, both from Tennessee, remain hospitalized at Gulf Coast.
Hamilton is now off a ventilator and is able to shrug his shoulders and move his arms slightly, according to his girlfriend, Brandi Whitten. She said Hamilton will undergo surgery Wednesday.
Heathcoat was scheduled for surgery Wednesday but developed a fever, which is now under control, according to his mother, Sherri Heathcoat. She said her son is on a ventilator and the family hopes to have him flown to a rehabilitation center in Memphis, Tenn., as soon as he is able.
Heathcoat also is now able to move his arms. “He gave me and his daddy our first hug,” said Sherri Heathcoat.