By Amy Rose
and Tom Yancey
Staff Writers

A local teenager was in serious condition this morning at Johnson City Medical Center after being injured Tuesday afternoon in a diving accident in northeastern Greene County.

The victim was identified as Clifford Coville, 15, according to a Greeneville Sun photographer at the scene.

A witness told the Sun photographer that Coville dove from a cliff about 15 feet above the water and hit his head on the bottom of a deep pool.

The witness said the divers were playing a game of "horse," where one person attempts a stunt and others try to duplicate it.

Tracy Lane, a supervisor with Greene-County Greeneville Emergency Medical Services (EMS), said Coville's friends told rescuers they wanted to leave him in the water until EMS arrived, but Coville insisted they get him out, so they did.

The EMS supervisor said Coville was conscious and complaining of some numbness in his hands, but, "he was moving his legs fine" after the accident.  Lane said Coville may have "some neck issues."
Coville was transferred by EMS to Laughlin Memorial Hospital.

A LMH spokesman said he was treated in the emergency room and transferred.  A JCMC spokesperson provided Coville's condition report this morning.

The accident was reported at 2:22 p.m. at a swimming area known locally as "the iceberg," according to an EMS spokesman.

The iceberg is located on Babbs Mill Road about 1.5 miles off the Kingsport Highway.

Rescuers including EMS, Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad and a number of bystanders carried Coville from the scene, carrying him by foot on a stretcher to the ambulance.

The rescue took about 20 minutes, according to the EMS spokesman.