IT TOOK them 30 minutes just to get Will Hallam out of the pool.

Then it took a further 45 minutes for the ambulance staff to stabilise the former Bradford Esprit diver so that he could be transported to hospital.

After treading on the side of the springboard on his second bounce at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds, the 15-year-old Bingley Grammar School pupil had broken his right leg in six places after a forward three-and-a-half somersault went horribly wrong in the three-metre event.

Three pins, two plates and two weeks in hospital later, surgeons were still unsure whether the Eldwick teenager would even be able to walk properly, let alone return to competitive diving.

The accident, which was in March 2015, is captured on a nine-second YouTube video – and the scream at the end of the clip belongs to his mother Nicole, who said: "My husband Chris, who wasn't at the event, refused to even watch the video as he is squeamish.

"Will needed that second bounce as he was quite tall and thin. Surgeons told him not to expect to be back on the boards before the end of the year.

"However, the speed of Will's recovery surprised the specialist and he was back in training with a boot in June and back in competition at the Scottish Nationals that December, finishing as fourth junior."

But while the physical scars may have healed, the mental ones have taken longer and Nicole admitted: "It's been a long, hard, two-year journey and he has had major support from Leeds Diving Club and his coach Adam Smallwood.

"But it all paid off at the British Senior Championships in February, where Will took junior gold on the three-metre springboard and silver on the one-metre springboard. He was also selected to represent Team GB at the prestigious Seven Nations Youth Championships in Bourg-en-Bresse, France in late March.

"There he came away with bronze on the one-metre and three-metre springboard individual and silver in the three-metre synchro with his partner Anthony Harding in their first international competition together."

This helped Great Britain to win the team prize for the fourth year in a row, while earlier this month Hallam took the three-metre synchro title with Harding at the British Junior Elite Championships in Plymouth at the start of Easter week, triumphing by over 50 points over the five dives and finishing with 273.99 points.

Hallam also took silver in the boys' A three-metre springboard with 496.25 points, only being bettered by Harding's 499.55.

This is a qualifier for the Junior European Championships but regardless of that, 17-year-old Hallam – who is taking A-levels in maths, physics and 3D product design – has already been selected for the International Youth Diving Meet in Dresden at the end of the month.

Hallam, who trains seven times a week, totalling 16 hours over six days, in addition to his A-level studies, has already earned himself a scholarship to dive for the University of Tennessee Knoxville and starts a five-year degree in architecture starting in August.

Hallam, who has bulked up since his accident, started diving when he was eight at Bradford Esprit in Shipley and quickly made his way through the squads, winning his first title the following year.

This made him eligible for Sports Aid funding and support, which he received every year until 2016.

A move to Leeds Diving Club enabled him to concentrate on the ten-metre platform but a broken wrist when he was 14 led to him switching to the one-metre and three-metre springboard.

That change paid off as he was selected to represent Great Britain at the European Junior Championships in Bergamo, Italy, where he came sixth.

The following March he had that accident but his mum said: "We are so proud of what Will has achieved. He's worked so hard to come back from his horrific accident and that is proof of his determination and dedication to his sport."

* Ruby Bower (City of Leeds) – another former Esprit member – won gold at Plymouth in the girls' A ten-metre platform with a score of 374.00 points.

She was pushed by Pheobe Banks (City of Leeds), who scored 367.85, while Tanya Watson of Southampton won the bronze with 361.90.