Accident in the Waves Reflects the Dangers of Shallow Waters

It might be impossible to count how many lives Project Wipeout has saved. But its fight against neck and spinal cord injury at the beach is a continuing one, and sometimes its message comes too late.

On Saturday, a 23-year-old Japanese student suffered what may be a paralyzing spinal cord injury off Laguna Beach.

Koichi Mori, a competitive pole vaulter, was found face-down in the water but conscious. Mark Klosterman, Laguna Beach’s lifeguard chief, could not say how Mori was injured but suspects that his neck or head may have struck the shallow bottom.

Mori was in serious condition Monday in intensive care at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

Kris Okamoto is disheartened every time she hears of such an accident. As director of Project Wipeout, Okamoto hopes to remind beachgoers that despite the fun and sun, accidents in the water can happen in a split second, sometimes with life-changing results.

The program was founded in 1979 at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. With lifeguard symposiums, literature, school talks and booths at county fairs, Project Wipeout works with eight Orange County lifeguard agencies -- as well as those in Los Angeles and San Diego counties -- to reduce spinal cord injuries at the beach.

Last year, Laguna Beach lifeguards took 32 people with suspected spinal cord injuries to hospitals. Of those, two suffered neurological impairment. Newport Beach lifeguards have similar statistics, taking 30 to 50 people to hospitals each year, said Capt. Jim Turner.

Klosterman said most accidents happen one of two ways: Bodysurfers, who often surf head-first, get thrown from the face of the wave, striking their neck or head on the bottom; or people jump into waves and are thrown backward to the bottom.

According to the Spinal Cord Injury Information Network at the University of Alabama, about 550 people each year suffer spinal or cervical injuries in water-related accidents. Most victims are males, 16 to 30 years old.

At the Pacific Rim Language Institute in Rowland Heights on Monday, where Mori is enrolled, students said they were troubled by the accident. Several had visited him at the hospital.

“The students and teachers are in shock to have tragedy befall on one of ours,” said Kurt Swain, director of the school. “This kind of tragedy, it’s tough on everyone.”

Swain said Mori’s parents were to have arrived Monday from Japan.