Boy's family living 'worst nightmare' since pier jump

Jack, 15, was on the pier with friends when he had the accident last month

The stepfather of a teenager who suffered brain damage following a jump off Margate's Stone Pier has described the "horrific" toll on his family.

Dave Dolan said Jack, 15, spent eight minutes under water before he was pulled out by an unknown kayaker.

He said he was now in "vegetative state" with a life expectancy of between three weeks and two years.

"I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. It’s the worst thing a parent could ever, ever go through,” Mr Dolan said.

Jack, who had been attempting a front flip from the pier on 23 June, "overspun" and "knocked himself out or winded himself," said Mr Dolan.

When he was eventually pulled from the water, he was in cardiac arrest.

"The lifeguards and paramedics tried to resuscitate him - it took 28 minutes, and then they flew him to King's, where they made him stable and assessed his brain activity," Mr Dolan said.

A fundraiser set up by a family friend has raised more than £13,500

The only part of the teenager's brain working is the brain stem, said his stepfather.

"The condition he is in, there is no rehab," he said.

"He has dystonia, so his body is distorting and in pain. He's in a horrible, grey area that nobody sees."

'Only option'

Mr Dolan said: "With children’s hospices, if it's not imminent death, they will not take them. Hospitals are for short-term cases only," he said.

"His mum is shadowing nurses in end-of-life care because that is the only option we have got, to take him home."

A fundraiser set up by a family friend has raised more than £13,500.

Mr Dolan said: "We have to give him the best life we can for the short time he is with us.

"It's horrific - every parent’s worst nightmare. To not only lose him once, but to sit and watch him fade away.

"I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy."

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