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PERTH - A man dressed only in his underwear survived a fall from his ninth-storey apartment in Perth after a late night prank went wrong.
Police said the 35-year-old's fall was broken by an iron and timber pergola, but he was yesterday in a serious condition in hospital.
The man, from Mosman Park, was trying to walk to a neighbour's balcony on a plank when he lost his footing just after midnight and fell 30m to the ground, police said.
He was taken to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital with a suspected broken leg and cuts.
Police spokeswoman Ros Weatherall said the man was found in only his underwear.
"He was skylarking around, building planks across to his neighbour's place, when it happened," she said.
"He was very lucky."
One resident said he woke to find police tending to the scantily-clad man in the apartment's courtyard.
"He was conscious, he was going 'Well, well, where am I? What happened?' and that was about it," the unnamed resident told ABC radio.
"It was a horrendous fall because he actually came down nine storeys."
Police Inspector John Gibson said he had first thought the man would have been "a goner".
"But, yeah, he survived and jolly good luck to him," he told ABC radio.
"One would hope that if he was skylarking, he's learned a very big lesson from a very lucky fall."
- AAP
