Photo: BC Wheelchair Sports

A Paralympian who was left paralyzed after a diving accident says she knew the injury was bad the moment it happened.

Miranda Biletski testified Monday in Court of Queen's Bench in Regina, where she is suing the University of Regina for negligence.

"Even the night of my accident I knew, to an extent, that it was worse than some people initially thought," she said.

In June 2005, the then-16-year-old Biletski dove into a pool from competition starting blocks at the university during a swim club practice. She hit the bottom and fractured her cervical vertebrae, leaving her a quadriplegic.

Biletski said she heard paramedics initially thought it was a stinger — a term used when a player hits their head and it feels like their limbs go to sleep, though the feeling eventually returns.

"I didn't think it was that and I actually gave my mom a list of people in the ambulance that I wanted her to call to say that I was going to the hospital," she said.

Doctors said trying to repair her spinal cord would be "like trying to squeeze all the toothpaste out of a tube of toothpaste and then getting it back in without actually damaging the toothpaste."

Court heard that Biletski — the first woman on Canada's wheelchair rugby team — can move her arms and shoulders, but has limited hand use.

According to the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association website, Biletski swam and played water polo competitively before her injury.

Biletski filed her claim against the university in December 2007.

The university is denying negligence and blames the accident on Biletski and the swim club.