To follow on from my previous comment, which I have to,­ due to lack of space here, my final point is, that­ anyone who was responsible for Rebeccas injury and care­ and welfare, in any way, should definately compensate­ her for the future lifetime of care, support and­ assistance she is going to require and need.
At 11­ years old she was a child. The responsibility for her­ safety and welfare falls squarely upon the shoulders of­ all the adults, clubs and organisations concerned.­
Rebecca, I hope the powers that be ,find a way to help­ you have your own children and overcome the­ problems.
However should this not be possible, then­ there are lots of children in the world who could use­ your love. See your future in a positive light and just­ another set of challenges to meet and overcome. The­ fact you have made it so far in your sport, tells me­ you have the courage and qualities required to survive­ this blow. And I thank you for speaking out and raising­ this issue, and bringing it and the dangers highlighted­ firmly into the public eye. Parents beware. Sometimes­ pursuit of excellence can ruin lives.

well this just goes to show that parents should make­ themselves aware of the fact that life changing and­ sometimes life threatening injuries can and do occur in­ sport. This young lady was a child and in no way was­ she ever to blame for what has happened to her. She was­ simply following her parents , her coaches, and the­ Nations dream. As a Nation we encourage pursuit of­ sport, for fitness and general good health, not to­ mention to instill the pursuit of excellence and team­ building skills it teaches and which are useful tools­ and lessons to learn and use throughout life. however­ sport has changed of late. No longer is it the amateur­ status of its origins, but now Money and fame play the­ biggest part. Bothe parents and coaches think that this­ is the way to national glory and the major paychecks­ which ensue olympic or international success. this­ applies not only to the sportsperson but also the­ coaches and their clubs. However coaches act as­ substitue parents for these young althletes and as such­ should have their welfare as their prime concern.­ Rebeccas situation is not just one of not being able to­ give birth. this is a life long problem she has now, as­ she has a spinal injury which will never go away. You­ have to have a spinal injury to begin to know the level­ of daily pain this young lady probably endures whilst­ undertaking the simplest and most basic of activities,­ such as the bending and stretching she mentions. If you­ imagine the worst toothache you have ever had, and­ magnify it many, mnay, many, times you probably would­ not even come close to the amount of pain she feels as­ even the slightest of pressure is exerted on her spine.­ Standing and sitting can be excrutiating and then there­ is the creeping painful numbness which follows and­ which can only be likened to a really, really bad case­ of cramp. So Rebecca is going to need her strength of­ character she has developed through her dedicated­ training, just to get her through her daily life now.

Jessica,how many times did you fracture your back?

vk, when you're 11 or 12 years old and an adult­ tells you to do something, you do it, especially when­ it's someone you've been led to trust by your­ parents. she was a child when this happened and­ didn't know any better, the adults involved should­ have been just that, adults. this sort of treatment is­ almost as bad as sexual abuse

There is nothing natural about having a natural birth!­ Nothing wrong with ceasarian section, it leaves an­ important part of your body intact and easier to sit!

we have only had one side of the story, however,as an­ athletics coach i have had a few 11 and 12 year olds­ join my group only to find out from the parents that­ they want to try athletics because they have been­ injured whilst doing gymnastics. it is usually their­ knees that are damaged. when oh when will people take­ into account that growing children are still developing­ their bones and muscles. i coach hurdles, and always­ ask youngsters if it is they or their parents who want­ them to do it.....i think you would be surprised at­ some of the answers.

surely if she sues the trainers she must then sue the­ parents on being negligent and complicit in her­ training regime. it sickens me that as a nation we can­ no longer blame ourselves for anything. falling was a­ hazard of not looking where you placed your feet whilst­ walking. you have only one person to blame and that is­ yourself. the word accident means just that, if the­ council had too fill in every loose, cracked or unlevel­ paving slab. if this is too be done you would require­ several hundred staff roping off areas deemed­ "dangerous" and awaiting repair and rates 3­ or 4 times higher too cover it. the only people too­ blame are the parents who wanted the "second hand­ fame and fortune"

unbelievable

I think the parents and the doctors have much more­ guilt than the coaches. At the end of the day she was­ not their daughter, but just another talented child,­ that could bring herself and them more glory. And that­ is probably why also the parents did not say­ stop....just wanted their daughter to achieve as much­ as possible, and probably not being aware of the long­ term consequences...? What about the doctors? Did not­ they knew that she should not continue with the sport­ at that level, or did they knew, did they worn the­ parents, but were not listen to? There are many, many­ questions.

Some people here say, that she herself­ should say NO. But what an eleven-year old girl, whith­ olympic expectations knows about life? What does she­ care about at that age about being a mother? Many of us­ do not know about life even at 20 or 30....

I believe­ she should NOT sue! Be humble, and accept your destiny.­ At the end of the day, you CAN conceive a child­ naturally, and may be there exist different ways that­ will help you even to carry it....if you do not try,­ you would not know. The C section is nothing pleasant,­ and every mother try to give birth naturally, but there­ ARE methods that can help....just do research, give it­ a try!

There are so many people who have to undergo­ much more intrusive operations and procedures to have­ their own child....AND there are so many children­ without any parents at all.....there are possibilites­ and solutions, just some people are to self-centred and­ arrogant.....running after life.

This case is just­ another illustration of many things that are wrong in­ this so called "civilized" society.......

I'm a little baffled. Presumably both her and her­ parents had no idea at the time that these exercises­ would later have such serious repercussions, so the­ suggestion that she or her parents could have said no­ is a little harsh. Whereas I deplore the blame culture­ we see to live in these days, in this case I think she­ has a good case.

i think forcing a child 2 do a 'whip salto'­ with servere back pain after it gave her that injury,­ at the age 11, is a modern form of child abuse , if the­ child at 11 couldn't say no 2 it , then the parents­ should of stepped up and then withdrawn the child­ either after back surgery or withdrawn her completely .

iF she was in that much pain, why did she carry on, and­ yes were where the parants.there is such a word as NO.

she was 11 years old, a child, children can find it­ very hard to say no, especially in that kind of pushy­ environment.

I am stunned by this story.Where were the parents­ ,Sorry I , know soaking up the glory now of course­ they want to reap the benefits of money.Its strange how­ money compensates for a child..I am unable to have­ children who can i sue..My parents ,God..I seek your­ advice.No i am not cynical but is the in England or­ America.