34 Cervical Spine Injury Cases from Diving in 9 Years
97% of Patients Were Male... 15% Suspected of Diving Under the Influence
Paralysis and Fatalities Occurred in Water as Shallow as 1.5 Meters
It has been found that one in ten people who sustained cervical spine injuries, such as a broken neck, in Jeju suffered their injuries while diving in shallow water.
On June 23, Yonhap News reported that a research team at Jeju Halla Hospital analyzed patients who were treated at the hospital's trauma center for cervical spine injuries over a nine-year period, from August 2018 to September last year. The results of the analysis were published in the Korean Journal of Neurotrauma, issued by the Korean Neurotraumatology Society.
According to the study, out of 353 patients with cervical spine trauma, 34 people, or 9.63%, suffered neck injuries while diving in water less than 1.5 meters deep. The average age of these patients was 30.6 years (ranging from 15 to 54 years old), and men accounted for 97.1% of the cases. In particular, when the researchers investigated alcohol consumption through osmotic pressure differences, 14.7% of the patients were suspected of having been drinking before diving.
Looking at the monthly incidence, diving accidents were concentrated during the summer vacation season, with 28.6% occurring in July and 31.4% in August. In terms of location, 64.7% of the accidents occurred outdoors, such as at beaches, harbors, or ports, while 35.3% took place indoors, such as in bathhouses or indoor swimming pools. Most of the accident locations had a water depth of only 1 to 2 meters.
Diving in shallow water can instantly lead to irreversible accidents such as quadriplegia. In fact, in June last year, a man in his 50s suffered severe injuries resulting in paralysis of all four limbs after diving into 1.5-meter-deep water at Wollyeong Port in Hallim-eup, Jeju City, and hitting his head on the bottom. There have also been fatal cases. In July last year, a man in his 20s died after jumping into the sea from a nearby rock at Hamdeok Beach in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, while intoxicated, into water only 1 meter deep.
The research team stated, "From an epidemiological perspective, more than 75% of patients with spinal cord injuries caused by diving are under 30 years old, and the incidence increases significantly between June and September. These accidents occur due to careless behavior, such as being completely unaware of the risk of injury before the incident."
According to the Jeju Coast Guard, there were a total of 347 safety accidents along the Jeju coast from 2021 to June 16, 2025. Of these, 73 people lost their lives, and 27 of those deaths were due to "falling and drowning" accidents. Diving accidents are not counted separately but are included in the "falling and drowning" category.
The research team pointed out, "Injuries caused by diving are one of the leading causes of serious trauma to the spine. Since some fatalities are reported as drowning without a postmortem investigation, the actual incidence of spinal injuries related to diving may be underestimated."
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