Contractors have now been directed to remove the swing from the banks of the Arrow River as soon as possible after the fall last Thursday afternoon.
Nicolas Cheifetz, 18, was with his mother Jo, siblings and extended family enjoying an idyllic summer’s day when he fell from the swing.
His father, Mountain Scene sales manager Martin Cheifetz, said Nicolas met the family to walk their dog along the river when he spotted a rope swing near the bridge providing access to Tobin’s Track.
"He ran at the rope swing, he was swinging, out at full extension, legs first over the river, and lost his grip."
Mr Cheifetz said it happened so quickly no-one had time to even caution the talented young golfer, due to head to the University of Auckland next month.
Nicolas fell head-first from a height of about 3m, landing on the rocky bank beside the river.
He was "unconscious, white and convulsing", Mr Cheifetz said.
He said his wife was "very calm" when she called to tell him about the accident.
"She said to me, ‘so, there’s been a change of plan, we’re not going to meet up at Ayrburn for a coffee because Nicolas has been in a bad accident and we’re not sure he’s going to make it’."
The family was full of praise for the Arrowtown Volunteer Fire Brigade — on the scene within about 10 minutes — St John ambulance staff and the medical team at Frankton’s Lakes District Hospital who provided "impeccable" care.
From a potential worst-case scenario, Mr Cheifetz said his son got off relatively lightly.
His discharge papers detailed a "traumatic brain injury" [concussion], a fracture in his second lumbar vertebrae, a broken right arm, severe whiplash and lacerations to his face and head.
"He’s pretty banged up, but all things considered, he and we are incredibly lucky ...
"A millimetre bend in his neck, or a millimetre’s difference in the landing place, where the rock might have been pointy as opposed to round, could have been the difference between the kid walking away with a concussion or being in a wheelchair — or dead.
"I don’t want to over-dramatise it, but it could have been significantly worse, just from a random act of boyhood rope-swinging — it’s innocent fun, until it’s not."
He said he was not an "over-protective parent and I’m hardly a ‘Karen"’, but swings such as the one his son fell from were a public safety risk.
"At some point, kids will be kids, but ... you need to have responsible erections.
"I assume it was some boy’s father that erected this thing, thinking it’d be a great thing for his kid.
"How would you like to be the father to know some other random kid jumped on it, broke his neck and ends up in a wheelchair?
"Nobody’s pointing fingers at anybody ... [but] my kid got off easily, maybe yours won’t be so lucky."
Land Information New Zealand land and waterways leader Lee Farnhill said contractors had been directed to remove the swing, if it was still there, as soon as possible.
Mr Farnhill said it appeared the makeshift swing was set up by a member of the public, "which is very unfortunate".
"This would not have carried any kind of signage or safety warnings, as you would expect with any endorsed activity or structure.
"In cases such as this, when we are made aware of a significant hazard on a property we manage, we take immediate and appropriate steps to mitigate it."
He said there was a process for the use of public land for recreational purposes.
A Queenstown council spokeswoman said it did not install, maintain or promote rope swings and they were removed as part of scheduled maintenance programmes.
