BY The Wimmera Mail Times

THE Lavington teenager who suffered major spinal damage when he jumped from a tree into the Murray River on Saturday is a gold medal-winning diver, once considered one of the sport’s brightest prospects in NSW.

Dylan Streller’s family is maintaining a bedside vigil at Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital after his accident at Oddies Park.

His father John, mother Moeroa, two older sisters Tegan and Crystal and younger brother Nathan are with Dylan in the hospital’s critical care unit.

Mr Streller said the damage to his son’s spine was not expected to be known for some months.

“It is a wait and see process and it will be a long haul,” Mr Streller said yesterday.

“We don’t know the time frame. It could be six weeks or as long as 12 months before we know how he is.

“We are hoping to have him transferred to a spinal unit here at Prince of Wales in the next week.”

Mr Streller, a diving coach, said all four of his children had been active diving competitors at a school level and they had all been members of the Playground to Podium Albury Diving Club.

Last April, 16-year-old Dylan and his brother Nathan were among 10 Riverina competitors who qualified for the NSW All Schools Diving Championships, with Dylan winning a gold medal in the springboard competition, further enhancing his reputation as one of NSW’s best young divers.

However, Mr Streller said none of his children had been competing in recent times and he was no longer coaching.

Mr Streller said his son had been able to speak to his family but he was heavily sedated and had not yet spoken about the accident.

Insp John Wadsworth of Albury police said Dylan had told them on Saturday his hand had become caught in the swing rope and he had landed on the water on his back.

“He floated along the waterway until people jumped in and went to his side, keeping him floating to reduce the strain on his back,” he said.

“When police and paramedics arrived, we were told that the victim could not feel his legs at all.”

Mr Streller commended paramedics and staff at Albury Base Hospital for their swift action in transferring Dylan from Albury to Sydney following his accident.

“The paramedics had already ordered the plane and it was on the tarmac by the time he had been taken to the hospital,” he said.

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