By Tom Degun

eric_sehn_and_kevin_geyson_26-07-11July 25 - Team GB diving team manager Tina Lander has been praised for helping to save the life of Canadian diving star Kevin Geyson after he was hit by a car outside the Oriental Sports Centre, which is the main venue for the 2011 World Aquatics Championships currently underway in Shanghai.


Geyson had boarded the bus that takes athletes and officials from the venue to their accommodation but asked the driver to stop so he could leave the bus to retrieve something he had left at the stadium.

However, the 27-year-old, who won bronze at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games last October, ran across the road and was hit hard by a car, knocking him unconscious.

Lander, who was on the bus that Geyson had vacated, rushed off the vehicle to deliver emergency first aid to the Canadian before he was rushed to hospital to be treated for a fractured skull and a large open wound on his leg.

Mitch Geller, chief technical officer for Diving Canada, said: "The team manager from Britain was the first on the scene and was really key in stabilising him.

"She gave him the first care and may have prevented something that could have been a lot worse.

"He was unconscious for a while, has a big laceration on his leg and a small skull fracture but a CT scan shows his brain is perfectly okay.

"He doesn't remember the accident but pretty much everything up to it.

"He's probably going to be in the hospital for a week, mainly guarding against infection."

Geyson's father Rick said he had spoken to his son on the phone and that the diver is in good spirits.

"He was pretty groggy, because he had been given pain medication, but he seemed relatively upbeat," he said.

"He says he is pretty bruised and banged up, but at this point they have ruled out anything serious.

"We don't know too much more, but my wife Sharon is heading over there to be with him until he can return home."

Geyson finished eighth in the 10-metre platform synchro in Shanghai with partner Eric Sehn.

The team missed out on a qualifying spot for the London 2012 Olympics by not securing a top-three finish but Geyson is expected to make a full recovery and the pairing will have another chance to try and qualify for the Games at the FINA World Cup next February, where they will need a top-eight finish to compete in London.

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