A schoolboy was left in a vegetative state after making an obscene gesture from a pier to impress his classmates and falling face first into the water.
Jack Dolan, 15, went to the beach for the first time alone on Sunday 23 June and jumped off Stone Pier in Margate, Kent.
He had done the move dozens of times before, most recently during a holiday in Egypt in September, but this time he landed headfirst into the water.
The impact was so severe that it knocked him unconscious and caused brain damage so severe that scans show it cannot be repaired.
When doctors took him off life support, Jack breathed on his own, but that’s all his body can do. He won’t recover.
Now his stepfather Dave Dolan and mother Lisa are desperately raising funds to move house so they can get Jack out of the hospital and care for him themselves until he dies.
Jack Dolan, 15, went to the beach for the first time alone on Sunday 23 June and jumped off Stone Pier in Margate, Kent.
He had done the move dozens of times before, most recently during a holiday in Egypt in September (pictured), but this time he landed headfirst into the water.
The impact of the jump was so severe that it knocked him unconscious and caused his brain to suffer damage so severe that scans show it cannot be repaired.
Jack’s stepdad Dave said the jump from Stone Pier (pictured) was three or four metres high, but if Jack had landed with a quarter rotation one way or the other, he probably would have been fine.
Dave, 35, who raised Jack as his own son, said the teenager was essentially in a “grey zone” where experts do not know how long he will remain alive, saying it could be weeks or years.
“I think he miscalculated and landed face first in the water, knocking himself unconscious,” Dave said, distraught.
‘It was only three or four metres and if I had landed with a quarter rotation one way or the other, I probably would have been fine.
“That’s why we can’t be angry with him. He’s done it so many times before that there’s no guilt involved.
‘I know he was laughing, I can really see him doing it, smiling and completely showing off.
“The last thing I would have known is how to be happy.”
It was Jack’s first time going to the beach without his mom and dad, who were protecting him because he had ADHD and was prone to acting without thinking.
Now his stepfather Dave Dolan and mother Lisa (pictured) are desperately raising funds to move house so they can get Jack out of hospital and care for him themselves until he dies.
A final tragic image shows Jack just half an hour before it happened, smiling as he arrives at Margate station with a friend.
A video from his holiday in Egypt in September shows him laughing and doing the same move from the side of a jetty.
“It was the first time we left it,” Dave continued.
“We always said no to him because we were very strict. He had ADHD and acted before thinking.
“But he was 15 and we wanted to give him a little more freedom.”
Jack, a pupil at Howard School in Medway, was with four or five friends and his girlfriend that day.
The teenager probably didn’t realize how high the pier was, was knocked unconscious and then drowned, although he wasn’t in the water for long before he was pulled out.
A final tragic image shows Jack just half an hour before it happened, smiling as he arrives at Margate station with a friend.
A video from his holiday in Egypt in September shows him laughing and doing the same move from the side of a jetty.
Dave, who lives in Rainham, Kent, said he was proud of Jack’s friends for their actions after the horrific accident.
One called 999 while his girlfriend immediately contacted Jack’s mother, who rushed to the popular seaside resort.
The teenager was treated by paramedics before being flown to King’s College Hospital by air ambulance, but MRI scans show his brain cannot be repaired.
When doctors took him off life support, the young man surprisingly breathed on his own, but that’s the most his body can do.
Doctors aren’t sure if he’ll live for weeks or even years, but he’ll need around-the-clock care, something the Dolans can’t provide in their current apartment.
“It’s in a gray area,” said Dave, an area supervisor for a facilities management company.
The family (pictured together), including Jack’s sisters Faith, ten, and Grace, eight, are currently in a council home and hope to move into a suitable home for Jack as soon as possible.
The family have set up a Just Giving page to help them make the changes if they get a new home and to pay for funeral costs. They have so far raised £12,000 of their £20,000 target with 451 donations from supporters.
‘He is receiving palliative care and although his body is fine, his brain is dead.
“He can’t go to a children’s hospice because you have to be close to death. He’s off life support and breathing, but he can’t do anything else.
‘Sometimes his eyes blink, but he is asleep most of the time.
‘We want to take him home, but we live in an apartment and we can’t keep him here.
We need two reception rooms, a ground floor cupboard and a wet room.
They were given the option of placing him in a foster home, sending him to a foster home, or taking him home.
The family, including Jack’s sisters Faith, ten, and Grace, eight, are currently in a council home and hope to move into a suitable home for Jack as soon as possible.
If they manage to find a new home, they will need to complete the renovations quickly so that it can accommodate Jack and the large amount of equipment he will need.
Jack currently suffers from dystonia, which causes uncontrolled and painful muscle movements.
The family also needs help finding a wheelchair for Jack’s needs, while maintaining and creating a new normal for his two younger sisters.
They have set up a Just Giving page to help them make the changes if they find new accommodation and to pay for funeral costs. They have so far raised £12,000 of their £20,000 target with 451 donations from supporters.
Dave says it’s the least they can do for Jack.
“We’ve looked after him so far and I’m not turning my back on him now,” Dave added.
“We want to bring him home as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Lisa, 33, is learning to care for Jack with doctors and nurses in London and is leaving her job in finance.
Sam Cass, who organised the crowdfunding campaign for Jack, described him as “the biggest prankster, with a heart of gold”.
She added: ‘He loves to show off to the girls and doesn’t leave the house without getting his hair done.
‘He loves his family, he would do anything for his sisters and this fundraiser is to take some of the burden off their shoulders.
‘A lot of people love Jack and I’m sure everyone wishes the family wasn’t going through this right now.’
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