Tourist seriously hurt leaping off bridge

Swimmers are being urged to take care before leaping off bridges after a 22-year-old French tourist suffered serious leg injuries as he plunged into the Buller River.

The man had to be winched off rocks after he jumped from O'Sullivans Bridge, south of Murchison, about 1.45pm yesterday.

An intensive care paramedic from the Nelson Marlborough Rescue helicopter had to stabilise the man, who could not be moved, before getting him onto a stretcher.

He was then winched from the rocks and airlifted to Nelson Hospital.

Rescue helicopter crewman Hamish Pirie said the tourist was obviously unaware of the depth of the water.

"And because it's an off-colour river, you can't really see the bottom. He's impacted with the bottom and suffered leg injuries instantly, basically - instant pain."

Mr Pirie agreed it was not the best way for a holiday to turn out.

"He'll be strapped up and in a bit of medical assistance for a while, I'd say."

Mr Pirie warned swimmers to be cautious before jumping off bridges or rocks.

"Obviously if you don't know the river, then it's not a good idea. If you can't see the bottom, that's also not a good idea because you just don't know how deep it is."

Mr Pirie said being able to see the bottom of the river wasn't enough.

"Obviously light and things do play havoc with the eyes - it can look really deep but it may not actually be. If you're going to jump off anything, you need to get in the water and check before.

"Swim around, put a pair of goggles on, have a look, see how deep the water is, and make sure there's no obstacles where you're going to land.

"I wouldn't say don't jump off things, but I would say you need to make sure that what you're jumping into is clear and deep enough."