Organisers of The Grid obstacle course were not to blame for an accident on a slide that left an athlete almost completely paralysed last year, an inquiry has found.

Andrea Calleja suffered spinal cord injuries when he slid head-first into a pool of water during the event in Għajn Tuffieħa in October 2022.

A magisterial inquiry into the accident concluded there was no negligence on the part of the organisers and that the athlete was solely to blame for the accident after deciding not to go down the slide in a seated position.

Michael Naudi, one of the organisers of the popular obstacle race, said everyone involved was shocked by the accident and sympathised with Calleja, who is undergoing rehabilitation treatment.

Speaking for the first time since the accident, Naudi said organisers considered stopping the event after negative comments on social media.

“Seeing the result of the inquiry feels like someone has taken a weight off our shoulders and reassured us that we did everything by the rules to create a fun and safe event,” he said.

“The report is very clear that Andrea tried to be a bit more adventurous and, unfortunately, this accident happened,” Naudi said.

He said the inquiry shows the event followed all the rules and what happened was a “freak accident”.

Magistrate Charmaine Galea concluded that Calleja was solely to blame for the accident after he decided to go down the slide headfirst, instead of sliding down with his legs out first.

Later, doctors informed him that he was seconds away from dying, had a cameraman not rushed in to get him out of the dirty water. He is now on the road to recovery.

“As organisers and athletes ourselves, we are aware that any sports carry a risk of injuries but there is more of a risk when you don’t follow the rules. This is a sport (OCR races) that you can get hurt and we provide rules so that we can reduce those injuries," Naudi said.

Andrea Calleja is on the path to recovery. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The report said the marshal did not tell Calleja that he should not go down headfirst. The marshal on duty testified that it was not his job to indicate how participants were to slide down and that he was given no instructions from the organisers to do so.

Naudi, however, said marshals are provided with instructions that they were to inform participants to slide while seated and not more than four people at one go.

Calleja told the inquiring magistrate that he saw people sliding headfirst in a previous similar event in May and footage of people sliding down headfirst in marketing material by the organisers. Naudi refuted this claim, saying that no such marketing was ever used.

Naudi said it was difficult for marshals to control some participants.

“We once had a person who went down the slide standing up and we all freaked out and this person was banned” he said.

“Participants will be rushing with the adrenaline and fun and don’t consider such small safety measures,” he added.

Following the accident, the organisers have stepped up in assembling marshals and hired two people to explain the rules of the race and how to handle each obstacle.

He said the organisers take all necessary safety features and, during that particular event, there were around three ambulances on site, members of the Red Cross and doctors at the finishing line.

The police checked the water levels of the pool and the magisterial inquiry found that the pool was full.

‘The fitness industry knew it was not our fault’

Naudi recalled how the October 2022 event was all set to be a positive one, seeing the large number of participants following the pandemic years.

“We were receiving positive feedback about the activity and then we were informed about the accident and we were so upset,” he said.

Established in 2016, Naudi said that The Grid events brought people together to train and take up sports and that the accident took a toll on the organisers.

“We even considered closing and stopping altogether when we saw how many negative comments there were on social media, where people were making claims without understanding the full picture.”

He said other participants reached out to the organisers encouraging them to continue the events.

“Athletes and other clubs reached out to us to tell us that everyone in the fitness industry knows it was not our fault.”

The Grid organisers were represented by lawyer Kris Busietta.