Thousands raised for paralysed Poole Gymnasts journey home

Dina Amos-Larkin, 21, from Poole, was paralysed from the chest down after falling from her 4th floor bedroom balcony in Salou whilst on a sports tour on the 2nd April. 

A Go Fund me account was set up to raise the money needed to bring home the paralysed student for further treatment and care after her insurance company refused to fulfill her claim as she had alcohol in her system. £10,000 is required to fund her flight back home from a Barcelona hospital, with all extra funds raised going towards the adaptive care that will be required when she returns home. Nearly £20,000 has been raised from over 1,100 donators.

The law student at Surrey University has represented Great Britain in trampolining and is the current Captain of Surrey’s Cheerleading squad, the Angels. She was speaking to her Mum on the phone when she fell 50ft from a  balcony in Salou, at the Hotel Jaime 1. Following her fall Dina was put into a medically induced coma for two weeks, before being told the extent of her injuries.

Nerve News spoke to James Cochrane, who went to Poole High School with Dina and set up the GoFundMe page with Dina’s best friend, Steff Monica. Overwhelmed with the success of the page, James said: “We have had some good responses at the moment, we have had two £1000 donations one of them was anonymous and the other was from a trampolining company from Guilford. There are some cheerleaders in South Wales that are actually going to climb a mountain for Dee which is completely incredible, I didn’t expect that at all.”

James added: “Dina is adamant that one day she will stand on her own feet again and support her own weight, despite what the Doctors are saying.”

Jade Harris, Dina’s friend who competed with her at cheer competitions before uni said; “Dina is the most confident person you’ve ever met. She’s a beautiful outgoing girl who knows her own mind and it’s such a shame that her main goal now is to hold her own weight again, when she was competing for England before all of this”

James finishes; “I wish her the best in her recovery, she is an awesome person and everything has been taken away from her in an instant. I just hope she gets the best out of life.”

You can keep up to date with the story and Dina’s progress on the Facebook Get Dina Larkin Home.

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