JAMAICA WEDDING, JAMAICA TOURISM

A woman who was in Jamaica fro a wedding in MoBay last week was yet another a victim of the cliff jumping.  This lady should not have jumped for many reasons,  but she, like many others including myself, was not aware of the nature or extent of the risks involved.  The circus atmosphere propels people into thinking they can jump and to want to show to their friends that they are daring enough to do it.  In hindsight, those who jump are really foolish. The lady, who was injured on Monday during the sunset, is a doctor who had a hip replacement less than a year before.  She went in the water in a seated position and as a result she fractured her spine. She and the rest of her friends had no idea that there had been so many injuries at Ricks. If she had known about them, chances are she would not have jumped herself.  But watching others jump over and over makes it seem so easy and carefree.

I am now ashamed to say that I also jumped, but was lucky enough not to get hurt. Knowing what I know now, however, I am advocating for nothing less than shutting down the cliff jump at Rick's.  If people want to go offsite and jump from the rocks, that's their business, but staging the jumping from inside of Rick's give a false impression of this being  sanctioned by Rick's management as being safe.  If Rick's management knows the risks, why do they continue to let its customers, some of whom have been consuming alcohol, jump????

Rick's should be held responsible for its central role in luring customers by offering them a chance to jump off the cliff and/or see others jump. They serve their customers liquor, and then provide a setting in which customers are seduced by the sight of tourist after tourist going off the cliff. One easily begins to think ,"Oh I can do that too!"  Rick's also features the jump site on its marketing materials.  The bottom line is that Ricks makes money from exposing people to an unreasonable risk of serious injury and even death,  and therefore it bears some of the blame when unwitting customers decide to jump without really understanding the risk involved. The warning located at the jump site is not enough, because by then the prospective jumper is distracted, trying to get up the nerve to go over, while friends and strangers cheer and goad.  It is an awful "sport" and it should be stopped.

We should demand that Rick's stop hosting this activity on its premises, period!

I wish my friend had read your website before going to Ricks.  She would not be on her back in a hospital wondering if she will be able to walk again. I am sure she is dealing with a ton of remorse thinking to herself, "What the Hell was I thinking????"  But those of us who care about her and others who have been injured ought to fight back until the jump is shut down.  Doing so will prevent others from being injured or killed by a stupid impulsive mistake.

Tracy L. Austin