A 33-year-old paraglider who recently crashed near Austin, Texas, while flying 48 miles per hour was hurt but lived to tell the tale.
The incident happened while Anthony Vella was testing a BDG Luna 3 in Enchanted Rock State Park, and video footage after he was rescued shows him lying in a hospital bed, the Daily Mail reported Saturday.
When he fell out of the sky, Vella fractured his neck, back, pelvis, and also shattered an arm.
Vella said the device itself was not responsible for the crash but said when he took off there was a small tension knot that he missed even though he checked prior to the flight.
The clip shows him starting the glider’s engine and running through a field before his feet leave the ground. “Oh man! Forty-eight miles per hour! Come on baby!” he says while gliding through the air.
However, seconds later Vella says, “Oh shit!” as he crashes to the ground and cries out in pain. He then grabs his phone and says, “Hey Siri, call 911!”
The Mail report noted that “applying brakes to a fully accelerated glider collapses it, and a tension knot snagging has the same effect.”
When Vella contacted a dispatcher, he explained what had happened. Meanwhile, someone else showed up at the scene with Vella’s friend and the pair took him out of the device.
Paramedics eventually found Vella’s location and rushed over to help him.
In a note on the video, Vella’s wife said all of her husband’s injuries required surgery. She added, “It has been the most challenging couple days for him but in true Anthony fashion, he continues to smile and make those around him laugh.”
On what appears to be Vella’s Instagram page, photos and videos show him paragliding in various locations.
In 2019, a paraglider who landed in Australia was attacked by a kangaroo. However, the man was not injured in the strange encounter, Breitbart News reported.
Watch video:
In 2020, a man was praised for saving a paraglider who crashed into an icy lake in Van Buren County, Michigan, according to Breitbart News.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.