Paraglider Rescued After Crashing into San Diego Cliff Side
Cameras were recording as the crew rushed to the man's aid
— -- A paraglider had to be rescued off a cliff near the coast of San Diego after he hit it head-on and held on to a ledge for his life.
The 47-year-old man, who was not identified, crashed into the bluffs just after 3 p.m. Sunday.
“He slid probably about 10 or 15 feet down onto a small ledge and he stayed on that ledge for a quite a while,” eyewitness Dan Wilkinson told ABC News. “He wasn’t saying any words. It was just yelling and screaming.”
San Diego lifeguards and rescue workers rushed to the scene in a race against the wind as they worried the wind would carry the man, still attached to his glider, away.
"That is always a risk because if the wind picks up then it can move the paraglider which would then move the patient,” said San Diego Lifeguard Lt. Rich Stropky. “We don’t want that to happen.”
Rescue workers used a helicopter to reach the glider and then used a pulley attached to a rescue bag to lift the man to safety.
The paraglider was taken to a local hospital to be treated for back and hip pain, according to rescuers.
Those who watched the accident unfold say the man was lucky he landed on one of the cliff’s edges.
“If he was higher up or just a little bit lower where he was, he would have gone down,” Wilkinson said.