Gym academy quiet on incident

Emergency staff move the injured teenager to an ambulance. Photo: Peter McIntosh.
Emergency staff move the injured teenager to an ambulance. Photo: Peter McIntosh.
Dunedin Gymnastics Academy is staying tight-lipped about an incident which led to a teenage girl sustaining  serious injuries.

Emergency services were called to the  academy’s Vogel St gym about 2.45pm on Thursday after a girl in her early teens  sustained what are understood to be spinal injuries from a fall.

Academy president Louise Taylor on Friday said the organisation would not comment on the incident.

"We aren’t going to make any comment. Certainly not at this stage," she said.

She would not provide an update on the condition of the victim.

A team of about 10 paramedics and firefighters carried the teen from the gym on a Stokes basket about 3.30pm on Thursday after the incident.

A St John spokesman said the girl was in her early teens and was taken to Dunedin Hospital’s emergency department with serious injuries.

A WorkSafe New Zealand spokesman again confirmed on Friday the government agency had not been notified of the incident.

It was unclear whether the workplace health and safety watchdog had to be notified under legislation.

"It’s not an easy question to answer," the spokesman said.

The academy’s school holiday programme was running at the facility at the time of the incident, but it is not known if the teen was  taking part.

timothy.brown@odt.co.nz

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