B.C. high school football community rallies around top quarterback who broke his neck jumping in lake

Sixteen-year-old Gavin Kamoschinski honed his football skills in his hometown of Kelowna.

But the talented left-handed quarterback spent his grade 11 year living in Vancouver and training with the top-rated Notre Dame Jugglers, preparing to become the team’s starter this coming high school football season.

“He was so looking forward to this year, cashing in on his talent and his dedication to the game and being our starting quarterback and pursuing a college opportunity,” said Notre Dame head coach Denis Kelly, who called Gavin a dream player. “He’s very team-oriented, extremely popular with his classmates and teammates and very very focused on what he wanted to do.”

The teenager was back in Kelowna visiting family on Wednesday when he was seriously injured in a freak accident.

“Unfortunately just a hot summer afternoon, innocent trip to the beach turned into this,” said Gavin’s father Jeremy Kamoschinski.

The young football player dove head-first off a dock into Okanagan Lake, something he had done countless times before. But this time, he didn’t come back up. “His brother was there and noticed he was under the water too long, pulled him up got him above water, he was spitting up water. And at that point, he couldn’t feel his legs,” said Jeremy.

Gavin was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital where he underwent a five-hour surgery to fuse his vertebrae and stabilize his broken neck.

“According to the doctors, they said it was a success in terms of what they needed,” said Jeremy. But the future is uncertain. Gavin currently has no feeling or movement below his waist.

“At this point, that’s what we are hoping to work on, regaining some of that function and mobility,” said Jeremy.

Kelly said Gavin’s teammates at Notre Dame are devastated by the accident. “But they are resolving to do whatever they can. The parents, the teachers and the whole Notre Dame community I know for sure is going to give him the love and support that he needs, and we are just going to hope for the best,” said Kelly.

He believes the accident was due to the lower water levels in Okanagan Lake this summer.

“Anybody with any thought that he was diving off a real dangerous cliff or putting himself in jeopardy, being reckless, is absolutely wrong. The kid was at the lake with the whole family and at a particular spot where they had swam before, the depth of the water this year was considerably less,” said Kelly.

“This wasn’t one of those events where some sort of late night party, something going wrong. This is just a cool off in the lake, and this is where we are at,” said Jeremy.

Gavin’s recovery will be long and difficult. Friends and family have started a GoFundMe to ensure his parents can afford to keep one of them at their sons’s bedside in Vancouver.

“It’s not really sinking in I don’t think,” said Jeremy. “But you have a person on one arm one day, and another one another day, and they are holding you up and carrying you through.”

Kelly said it’s important everyone around Gavin stays positive, as the young athlete faces the biggest challenge of his life. “The progress in the spinal cord section of medicine has been outstanding, and you do hear all the time of advancements, and there is state-of-the-art facilities and things locally here that he can take advantage of. So you never know, you keep a very positive outlook.”

Jeremy believes youth and fitness are on his son’s side.

“You just don’t know the grit, determination and spirit within somebody until they rise to the occasion. And this is a challenge and a very traumatic and unfortunate challenge, but we want to get back on the horse,” Jeremy said.

Gavin’s quarterback dreams may be on hold for now, but Kelly said his football community isn’t going anywhere.

“We as a Notre Dame team, we are going to rally behind Gavin full-time,” he said. “Whatever it takes, our whole community is ready to do that for him.”