Boy, 17, shares nightmarish mobility injuries he suffered after jumping off notorious San Diego cliff and striking the side of it on way down

Sign up for our US Editor's Picks newsletter and get Maureen Callahan's searing DailyMail+ exclusive exposé on the real Carolyn Bessette and those cocaine rumors for FREE See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 09:24 EDT, 31 July 2026 | Updated: 10:21 EDT, 31 July 2026 A 17-year-old suffered severe injuries and is now forced to use a walker after jumping off a notorious San Diego cliff. The boy, whose name was not given, suffered six compression fractures to his vertebrae and had to get nine stitches in his foot after hitting the rocks while diving last week. 'I slammed against the rock, and I felt paralyzed, and I couldn’t move,' he told Fox 5 San Diego. 'My lungs were burning, my ribs were burning, my spine. It was the weirdest feeling; it was just burning.'Bystanders rushed into the water to keep the teenager afloat until lifeguards and firefighters used a technical rope system to pull his injured body out on Sunday. The boy believes if he had 'slipped a little bit more' that he would have 'landed straight on that slab and not in the water' near Sunset Cliffs.'I would probably be paralyzed if not dead,' he told the outlet. The boy now has to use a walker to get around as he recovers. He is hoping his injuries will deter others from making the same jump. The boy, who was not identified, suffered six compression fractures to his vertebrae and had to get nine stitches in his foot after plunging off Sunset Cliffs in San Diego He believes he would have died if he had ‘slipped a bit more’ after hitting the rocks and bouncing into the waterTeenagers are still flocking to the spot to try out the risky dare for themselves – some in hopes of looking cool on social media. Lifeguards, however, remind people that it is illegal to jump off anything over five feet tall under city ordinance.They also warn the teenagers that there could be hidden rocks under the surface that they cannot see from above and changing tides could be dangerous. A now-viral video showed the moment the 17-year-old was injured. He was recorded leaping off the rock, then hitting its side before falling into the water.The video shows a large crowd watching the boy as he made contact with the cliff face.Another person can be seen jumping in to assist him shortly after he entered the water.Emergency services were called to Sunset Cliffs around 4.27pm. The teenager was pulled from the water and taken to hospital at 5.16pm. Firefighters and lifeguards had to use a technical rope system to get the teenager out Despite cliff jumping being illegal in San Diego, the area is a popular diving spotAccording to a report by OB Rag, from 2005 through 2017, there were 19 deaths and 49 people seriously injured at Sunset Cliffs. Despite the law and multiple accidents, the location remains a frequent diving spot for locals and visitors.