'Shocked and devastated': Family says waterslide accident which broke a man's neck should never have happened
A young British holidaymaker from Essex could face being left paralysed for life after breaking his neck in an accident at a Spanish waterpark.
David Briffaut, 23, lost consciousness and suffered serious injuries afterhitting the water in a pool at the bottom of a slide at the Aqualandia touristattraction in Benidorm.
He is being treated in a Spanish hospital and his family fear he will be left paraplegic after scans showed he has two broken vertebrae in his neck.
Click to watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Serena Sandhu
His parents, teacher Lorraine and construction worker Stephane, have flown out to bring Mr Briffaut, who works as a green keeper at a golf club in Essex.
A spokesman for the park said the slide was "completely safe" and that itaccepted no responsibility for the accident.
Mr Briffaut's uncle, Mark Pooley, said: "This is every family's worse nightmare. David is a wonderful young man, who was enjoying an innocent day out with his girlfriend.
"We are praying for a miracle, but we have been told that the injuries he hassustained are very traumatic.
"We cannot understand how this happened at a family tourist destination. David was behaving in the normal way, and he had not been drinking.
"We believe there should be a full investigation into the circumstances ofwhat happened."
This video captured the moment before David Briffaut hit the water and broke his neck
Mr Briffaut was on holiday with his girlfriend of six years, Penny Bristow, atthe time of the accident on the "Splash" slide.
They had been staying with friends and were on holiday to celebrate Ms Bristow completing a degree course in travel and tourism.
Mr Briffaut's family have set up a crowdfunding page to raise £75,000 to help pay for his care when he returns home, which has so far raised more than £40,000.
Aqualandia spokesman Maria Jose Marcos said: "First of all, I would like toclarify that, for various reasons, Aqualandia is not responsible for theaccident which occurred on 8 July.
"The ride Splash is completely safe, as are the rest of slides of the park.Each season, before opening the park, an external company specialised in water parks makes an exhaustive review of all the slides. Beyond this, our staff check them every morning."