An Australian man dived off a cliff before the wind pushed him into the cliff face. Photo / TikTok @groundrushtv
An Australian man dived off a cliff before the wind pushed him into the cliff face. Photo / TikTok @groundrushtv
An Australian base jumper has shared footage of the terrifying moment he was left hanging by a tree after a gust of wind sent his parachute flying into a cliff face.
Filming himself jumping off the peak of the cliff, Rory Allen gets himself into strife as his open parachute pulls him into the rocky outcrop.
He then uses his feet to push away from the rocks, before his parachute gets caught on a tree.
In two videos shared on TikTok, Allen said he was stuck dangling for more than two hours before he was rescued by volunteers.
"This is f***ing scary. I'm hanging from a tree, in a base jumping harness and it's just got windy and I'm blowing around," he said.
"If the tree breaks or my canopy breaks, I'm definitely going to break my back and some legs. I hope these guys come quickly."
In a second video, he can be heard saying to someone: "Dude, I'm okay but I need help. I need the helicopter".
Later in the comments, Allen said he sustained a "broken foot but not a bad one". He added that while it "didn't hurt at the time," Allen realised "straight away" after he was released.
Despite this, he had every intention to get back into the activity. Responding to a comment, he wrote: "Two more weeks and I'll be back at it".
Another commenter asked whether he suffered suspension trauma – also known as harness hang syndrome. This happens if too much blood is trapped in someone's legs, which means it can't travel to other areas of your body, like the heart and brain.
An Australian man dived off a cliff before the wind pushed him into the cliff face. Photo / TikTok @groundrushtv
In response, Allen wrote: "I took it in turns to release each leg and wiggled my feet. Was tricky because I didn't want to shift my weight on the tree".
Allen – who regularly shares footage of his jumps – is currently attempting to raise money on behalf of the "brave volunteers that saved" his life.
"All money raised will be donated to the brave people in the mountain rescue team that saved my life," he wrote in the campaign's description.
Unlike skydiving, base jumping refers to jumping off of structures and objects which are fixed to the ground.
In Australia, base jumping (which is an acronym for buildings, antenna, spans and earth) is illegal in national parks and private property, unless permission is given beforehand.
The regulation around the activity has copped some backlash from those in the sport. Speaking to the ABC in 2016, one advocate, Ashley Walsh said it forces people to go overseas, instead of creating rules which allow jumpers to do it safely in Australia.
"There's plenty of buildings in Australia that if the owners allowed us to jump off in good conditions, the sport could be practised safely and we could continue to keep up the currency of the sport while we're back in Australia," he said.
