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British gymnast paralysed in balcony fall at Spanish hotel (30 April 2015)

Date: 30/04/2015
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, British gymnast paralysed in balcony fall at Spanish hotel

A British gymnast paralysed when she fell from a hotel balcony has said that the balcony rail was lower than her waistline and she leaned back too far while on the balcony talking to her mother on her phone.

The Daily Mail reports that 21-year-old law student Dina Amos-Larkin from Poole in Dorset has been left paralysed from the neck down after falling 50ft from a hotel balcony, while attending a four-day sports festival in Salou, Spain. Ms Amos-Larkin represents Great Britain in trampolining.

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Ms Amos-Larkin denied initial reports that her fall had been a suicide bid – or that she had been drunk when she fell. It is reported a post by Ms Amos-Larkin on social media before her fall mentioned her having a hangover during her stay in Spain.

She is now waiting in hospital for insurer AXA PPP to review her case so that she can return home to the UK.

However, her family are also trying to raise funds to bring Ms Amos-Larkin back to the UK – £13,900 of the £20,000 needed to repatriate her to the UK has already been raised through a GoFundMe page online.

Ms Amos-Larking fell from a fourth floor balcony at Hotel Jaime 1 in Salou on 3 April – and was placed in a medically-induced coma for two weeks afterwards. Doctors told her of her injuries after she was brought out of the coma.

As well as being a gymnast, Ms Amos-Larkin is captain of the Angels cheerleading squad at Surrey University.

Her parents Audrey and Stephen have told the Sunday Mirror their hearts are broken by their daughter’s plight.

Writing on the GoFundMe web page, the couple say:

“Dina Larkin suffered horrendous injuries including paralysis when she fell from a balcony during a student festival in Barcelona.

“Dina is an international gymnast and aspiring law student. But most of all she is a daughter, a sister and a friend to many.

”Her recovery has been halted because the costs of getting her back to the UK amount to over £10,000 – and then there's the adaptive care she will need when she is home.

“We just want her home,” the couple adds.

A spokesman for AXA PPP said:

“We are looking into the circumstances – and until those investigations have been completed, it would not be appropriate to comment further.
“We are speaking to Dina and assisting with her repatriation.”

Ms Amos-Larkin said the circumstances of her fall were nothing to do with being drunk or taking her own life, however, as has been alleged:

“That isn't the case,” she said.

“I spent the day doing sport and went drinking in the evening, but wasn't drunk.

“The balcony rail was lower than my waist and I think I just leaned back too far.”


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