Cory Peyton, fifteen when on holiday in the Algarve in 2013, hit his head on the bottom of a one metre deep indoor pool at the Holiday Village resort in Albufeira, breaking his neck.
Peyton has been in a wheelchair ever since and is suing tour operator Tui for compensation.
Peyton was "trying to teach a girl to dive" when he hit his head on the bottom of a shallow indoor pool at the Holiday Village resort, in Albufeira.
Lawyers for 19-year-old Cory who lives in Atherton, Greater Manchester, blame the resort’s staff, claiming that they had organised dangerous games encouraging youngsters to dive into the pool to retrieve objects, despite the shallow water.
The family holiday was booked with Thomson Holidays, now Tui UK Ltd, and in a writ lodged at London's High Court, barrister Stephen Killalea QC states that the teenager "had been teaching a girl to dive into the indoor pool prior to his accident. Cory dived into the indoor pool and sustained catastrophic spinal injuries when his head collided with the bottom."
The accident took place on the evening of July 26, 2013, in a pool which was one metre deep at its shallowest point, the writ adds.
TUI's lawyers have deny liability, stating there was a "clear no diving policy" at the resort and that the tour operators, "rely upon the presence of no diving signs" around the pool, the writ states.
Killalea claims that resort staff ignored both the signs and the policy and that "diving took place and was commonplace in both the indoor and outdoor pools," with staff organising "inherently dangerous" competitive diving games for holidaymakers in the two days prior to Cory's accident.
One game involved holidaymakers, "including Cory, younger children and adults", diving into "the shallow outdoor pool" in order to retrieve spoons from the bottom which had been thrown in by resort staff.
Staff running the resort had "failed to heed the fact that organising the activity would encourage holidaymakers, including children, young persons and adults, to dive into shallow water."
The writ also claims that staff "failed to exercise proper care and skill about the safety of Cory at the hotel" and "caused permitted or suffered him to dive into the shallow water of the indoor pool."
TUI's defence to the action was not available from the court and the contents of the writ have yet to be tested before a judge.
But, according to the writ, an accident report prepared by a member of staff stated that the indoor pool had been officially closed at the time Cory suffered his injury and that he ought not to have been there. The report states that 'sliding patio doors outside of the pool had been forced open to gain entry.'
Mr Killalea denies this claim in the writ, insisting the doors "had been left open" and that Cory had been given "the clear impression that it was permitted to use the indoor pool at night."
TUI also relies on the "no diving" signs around the pool, with their lawyers stating in a letter that, "there is a body of evidence to demonstrate that there was a clear general 'no diving' policy."
Killalea states that, "Whilst it may be demonstrated by the defendants that it was intended that there should be a clear "no diving" policy, this was not what was happening in reality."
The value of Cory's claim "exceeds £300,000", the writ says, but Mr Killalea explains that an exact value has yet to be determined, “The severity of the injuries is such that various medical and non-medical experts will have to be instructed after the issue of liability has been resolved."
On a full liability basis, Cory's claim is likely to be total several million pounds due to his youth and the severity of his injuries.
