Contractors have now been directed to remove the swing from the banks of the Arrow River as soon as possible after the horror fall last Thursday afternoon.
Nicolas Cheifetz, 18, was with his mum, Jo, siblings and extended family enjoying an idyllic summer day when the drama unfolded.
His father, Mountain Scene sales manager Martin Cheifetz, said his Nicolas linked up with the rest of his family to walk their dog along the Arrow 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."
Martin 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 3 metres, landing on the rocky bank beside the river.
He was "unconscious, white and convulsing", Martin says.
Expecting to hear from wife, Jo, about 2pm to finalise a plan to meet up, Martin says she was "very calm" when she called.
"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’s full of praise for the Arrowtown volunteer fireys — 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, Martin says his son got off relatively lightly.
His discharge papers detail 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 overdramatise it, but it could have been significantly worse, just from a random act of boyhood rope swinging — it’s innocent fun, till it’s not."
He notes he’s not an "overprotective parent and I’m hardly a Karen", but says rope swings such as the one his son fell from are a public safety risk.
"At some point kids will be kids ... 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 Toitū Te Whenua land and waterways leader Lee Farnhill says contractors have been directed to visit the site and remove the swing, if it’s still there, as soon as possible.
Farnhill says it appears 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.
"We do not maintain or promote the use of swings on any land or over waterways we manage."
There’s a process around the use of public land for recreation purposes — and any recreation activity requires a permit from LINZ and usually a consent from the local council.
"No such permit or consent exists in this case," Farnhill says.
A Queenstown council spokeswoman says they don’t install, maintain or promote rope swings, noting they do pop up occasionally, particularly over the summer holidays, and tend to be installed by members of the public.
While its ‘tree policy’ doesn’t specifically provide guidance on rope swings, council does remove them as part of scheduled reserve/tree maintenance programmes across the district because they’re considered a "safety risk".
Meantime, Martin says he’s given monthly donations to charities he’s passionate about for many years.
The Arrowtown fire brigade and St John are now being added to his list.
