Ten Proven Ways to Break Your Neck by Diving

#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.”

#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.”

#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.”

#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).

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

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

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

#8: Dive from a trampoline into a pool.

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

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

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