KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Experts are warning about the dangers of cliff jumping after the death of a man at Melton Hill Park in west Knox County Thursday.
The Knox County Sheriff's Office said 22-year-old Joshua Fritts drowned after jumping off a cliff.
The cliffs at Melton Hill Lake in Hardin Valley are a favorite for thrill seekers.
"Some of the beautiful lakes and quarries that we have that we want people to enjoy here in Knox County do have some hazards," John Whited, Deputy Chief at Knox County Rescue, said.
Whited said jumping into unknown water can be a dangerous choice.
"Anything from a shopping cart to a rock that you can't see exposed," Whited said.
He says even if you've jumped a place before, the murky waters can change.
"There's always debris right?" Whited said. "So we have debris in the lakes and channels in Tennessee, and that stuff gets moved around when they run those dams. What may not have been there yesterday, may be there today."
He says just hitting the surface of the water from any height can cause major injury--even for trained divers.
"There's been a lot of studies about that," Whited said. "It's like hitting concrete...If you land wrong, you're in real trouble."
It's trouble Benchmark Physical Therapist Hunter Johnson has seen before.
"Depending upon the height, if you were to land directly on the head, there could be enough pressure whenever you strike the water, that it could cause a vertebral fracture, which could cause spinal cord damage and end up in something like being paralyzed," Johnson said.
He says concussions are also a concern--and you may not notice the symptoms immediately.
"Dizziness, fogginess, confusion things like that, afterward," Johnson said. "A sensitivity to light, noise, things like that. It's something to definitely be on the lookout if you are engaged in some of those risky behaviors--cliff diving and things like that."
Johnson says that with either a concussion or bone fracture, the recovery can take months and is often very painful.