Gavin Kamoschinski dove from this dock last year and will never be the same again.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED
May 22, 2024 - 7:00 AM
A promising young football player, formerly from Kelowna, is suing the City of Kelowna after he was paralyzed diving into Okanagan Lake from a city dock.
Gavin Kamoschinski was 16 years old and set to start as quarterback for one of the top high school programs in B.C. His family moved to Vancouver so he could play for the Notre Dame Jugglers and returned to Kelowna on a family trip.
Gavin was with family and friends on a hot Aug. 2, 2023 and dove off the dock at Hobson Beach Park. His brother noticed he wasn’t coming up and pulled him to safety, but Gavin couldn’t feel his legs. He suffered a “catastrophic spinal cord injury.”
More than $100,000 was raised for his family through a crowdfunding campaign.
Now, almost a year later, his family has filed a lawsuit in his name.
He says the City of Kelowna had only one sign on the beach prohibiting diving and jumping from the dock and warning of serious injury or death, but says the sign “was placed at a location where it would not be viewed by all users of the park and dock.”
Kamoschinski says he did not see the sign.
“Despite being aware the dock was used for jumping and diving, the defendant City of Kelowna kept the dock in place without adequate safety precautions and signage to warn users of the dangers posed by jumping and diving from it,” the lawsuit says.
He claims the city was negligent for failing to post more signs and “failing to comply with minimal industry standards respecting placement of warning signs along a public waterfront beach and dock.”
The suit says Kamoschinski’s injuries impair all aspects of day-to-day functioning and he is in chronic pain.
The City of Kelowna is aware of the suit, filed May 17.
“The City of Kelowna is reviewing the claim and will not discuss the case until after the Court has concluded with the matter,” the city said in a statement.
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