Toby Segar, one of the British free-runners who shot a cliff-diving video in Malta last year, suspects it may have helped inspire this summer’s leaping frenzy. But he insists that there is nothing wrong with the activity as long as the adrenaline junkies take precautions.

Mr Segar pointed out that his Storror team members took extra precautions before they attempted any of their jumps. They would first dive to the seabed to make sure it was deep enough and there were no obstacles they could hit.

“If there are any rocks, which we could even possibly hit on entry, we wouldn’t risk it. At the end of the day, missing out on one jump isn’t going to ruin your day, and dying is the last thing you want to do!”

Mr Segar, 19, said he was really happy people had discovered that cliff jumping was one of the most exhilarating things one can do. 

"As long as you are sensible there should be no issues," said Mr Segar, whose team is based in southeast England.

Eight Storror members shot the stylish Malta Cliff Diving 2012 video around the Maltese islands last August and September.

It became a You Tube sensation that has received more than 425,000 views to date.

The video contains breath-taking footage of the acrobatic teens performing daring dives, flips and jumps into the sea at iconic locations.

One Storror member, Sacha Powell, even performs a backflip from the top of the 25-metre Azure Window in Gozo.

But this summer there has been an epidemic of spinal injuries caused by youngsters jumping from cliffs, particularly around Comino.

In the four weeks leading up to August 16, Gozo General Hospital said it had treated 20 cases of severe spinal injuries as a result of cliff jumping.

A 23-year-old French woman suffered grievous injuries after leaping from the Azure Window on August 14.

Mr Segar pointed out that Storror team members took extra precautions before they attempted any of their jumps. They would first dive to the seabed to make sure it was deep enough and there were no obstacles they could hit.

“If there are any rocks, which we could even possibly hit on entry, we wouldn’t risk it. At the end of the day, missing out on one jump isn’t going to ruin your day, and dying is the last thing you want to do!”

You have to take into account your skills and not try to overdo it, because you will hurt yourself

He also cautioned wannabe cliff jumpers to start with very low jumps.

“You have to take into account your skills and not try to overdo it, because you will hurt yourself.”

Toby Segar is seen performing a back flip near Xemxija last summer. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Storror is made up of experienced free-runners and traceurs of the street sport Parkour, which involves leaping over, through and around obstacles and across large gaps.

Several comments underneath their 2012 video were from people saying they planned to attempt cliff jumping when they visit Malta.

“I have had a few people asking me where all the shots were taken, we get that quite a lot,” Mr Segar said.

“I guess our video had a big part in it [the popularity of cliff jumping]. But obviously if anyone hurts themselves, I would not want anyone to put those injuries down to our videos.

“It seems ridiculous that someone would blame a back injury on a viral video.”

Mr Segar thinks one the reasons the video was so successful was because Malta’s small size and the interconnectedness of the Maltese means things get shared on the internet very quickly.

The previous year the team had posted a video entitled Malta Cliff Diving 2011, which has been viewed some 297,000 times on You Tube. It also features jumps from the Azure Window.

Several other You Tube users have posted their own Malta cliff jumping videos this year, with varying degrees of success.

Mr Segar spoke to Times of Malta by phone as he was arriving in France to meet up with other team members.

“We won’t be in Malta this year as we want to mix it up. I’m sure next year or the year after we’ll definitely be back,” he said.