A Wollongong base jumping instructor has been hailed for saving a beginner’s life after he stopped the man from flinging himself off a 110-metre high bridge without his parachute properly attached.
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Chris McDougall took to social media to share a video of the close call, where he spotted a novice jumper about to leap from a bridge in Croatia without his parachute leg straps on.
WARNING: Video contains graphic language.
“I caught him within about one and a half seconds of him jumping straight to his death,” the Illawarra base jumper, who was on the bridge teaching students when the man prepared to jump, said.
“There’s no way around it, if he had jumped off that object, he was going to die.”
A video posted to Mr McDougall’s YouTube page shows him rushing towards the man at the edge of the bridge and yelling “Stop. Stop. Stop.” in an expletive-laden rant.
“F--- me, get the f--- back over the bridge, you’ve got no f---ing leg straps on you f---ing idiot,” he said.
“You owe me a beer.”
His video has reached more than half a million viewers since it was posted late last week.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
