Sonoma Co. Teen Injures Spinal Cord In Tragic Swimming Accident Near Bodega Bay

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A 17-year-old Santa Rosa boy suffered a fractured spinal cord Sunday in a tragic injury that occurred in the water off a Sonoma County beach, sheriff's officials said. The Sonoma County sheriff's Henry-One helicopter crew was dispatched to Pinnacle Gulch Beach just south of Bodega Bay at about 4:15 p.m. Sunday when it was reported that a swimmer had been injured, according to sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum.

The crew landed the helicopter on the beach and immediately began to treat the injured boy who had lost feeling to the lower part of his body and was not able to move, Crum said.

"The boy had been wading in the ocean, along with three of his friends," Crum said. "He dove over an incoming wave head first but the water level lowered on the other side of the wave and became much shallower than what he had thought. The boy hit his head on the bottom of the ocean and injured his neck and spinal cord."

Friends and bystanders pulled the boy to safety and called for emergency help, the sergeant said.

Responding medics cautiously treated the boy for a spinal cord injury as they loaded him onto the helicopter and flew him to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital — where he was diagnosed with a fracture to his spinal cord, Crum said.

"The helicopter crew and all of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office wish their best to the boy and his family," Crum said.

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