Aussie man’s mission to get home after paralysing jump from Mostar Bridge in Bosnia

An Australian traveller has been paralysed in a perilous 20m jump into the water from the iconic Stari Most — also known as the Mostar Bridge — in Bosnia on Thursday.

Jordan Theobald did not make the eight-storey plunge unguided — he was trained, as is customary, by the diving club which operates at the popular tourist attraction — but the slightest error in the air was enough to “shatter” his T12 vertebrae.

The 29-year-old was visiting the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe with his partner, Laura Mahoney, who was with him at the rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge last week.

The Melbourne couple had been saving up for years so they could travel the world and experience the cultures of Europe, with plans to eventually settle in France.

But now getting home quickly and embarking on a recovery journey is the couple’s main priority.

Theobald and Mahoney had spent just two days in Mostar before the incident.

“When it came to the big jump, a mishap has happened and he’s landed incorrectly,” Mahoney told 7NEWS.com.au.

“There was a boat in the water with the people from the diving company, and they pulled him out immediately and someone called the ambulance.

“At that time we didn’t really know what the injury was, Jordan just kept saying his back was in pain and he couldn’t really move his legs.”

He was taken to ICU with the lower half of his body paralysed.

But after complex surgeries, signs of recovery are already providing hope — Theobald is now able to wiggle his toes.

“Jordan is an incredibly active and loving person. He has an adventurous spirit and a passion for surfing and snowboarding. He is always the life of the party,” Mahoney said.

“Jordan does have really great mental strength, and he is remaining positive and hopeful that he can see improvement each day with his recovery.”

Jumping off the Stari Most Bridge is a rite of passage for young local boys entering manhood and a bucket-list activity for global travellers — with TV hosts Hamish Blake and Andy Lee famously leaping from the bridge during their 2012 Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year series.

While fatalities are few at the bridge, injuries, according to the locals, are too many to count.

Even Australian high diving world champion Rhiannan Iffland had to be rescued from the Neretva river below the bridge in 2017, when she over-rotated during a dive and badly tore her groin muscles and sustained MCL strains in both knees upon landing.

“(The diving club) has seen incidents before,” Mahoney said. “But the person I spoke to said not to the extent we’ve seen with Jordan.

“Jumping off a bridge that high, there are always going to be risks.”

Gratitude and a daunting sum

The next steps for Theobald are not yet known, but repatriation to Australia is set to cost “a daunting sum”.

Once out of ICU, he will need a medical clearance to fly but there is not yet any indication of when that might be.

Right now, Theobald is just thankful for the support of those “rallying behind him”.

“Due to him being in ICU, I haven’t been able to see him for greater than a 10-minute period each day,” Mahoney said.

“When I am there, he just expresses his gratitude towards the medical team.”

The speedy action and incredible care offered by the hospital, the emotional support from the bridge diving club and the financial donations already flooding in through a GoFundMe fundraiser has left them “eternally grateful”.

“The generosity, support, and kind messages that we’re receiving has not gone unnoticed,” Mahoney said.

“The cost of his medical care, combined with repatriation expenses to Australia, amounts to more than $100,000 with more costs expected down the road.

“At this stage we are unsure what, if anything, our travel insurance will cover.”