How much of a risk taker are you?
Although some of us like to play it safe in life, others of us can’t get enough of the adrenaline rushes that life has to offer. Whether it means doing high-stakes business deals or making risky investments, there are plenty of big thrills to have in life. On the more recreational side of things, there are plenty of mountain sports and other “extreme” activities designed to get thrills. Still, all of these activities inherently come with some risk—and when things go wrong it can be terrifying.
Unfortunately, that’s what happened when Chris Gursky went hang-gliding.
Gurksy is an American tourist who was on a vacation in Switzerland.
Gursky is an auto-parts manager who lives in Florida. He was on vacation in Europe with his wife and he had decided to go hang-gliding. Gurksy was going it alone with the hang-gliding pilot while his wife waited on the ground. Although the pilots are in charge of their passengers’ safety, the pair made a very dangerous mistake when taking off from the ground.
The pilot had forgotten to fully fasten Gursky in before taking off!
Perhaps most incredible of all about this mishap is that the entire thing was captured on video.
As the clip begins, you can hear the pilot telling Gursky to run with him so that they can get started going in the air. They start running and the glider starts to get some air beneath it. Right as they leave the ground, however, it becomes clear that Gursky is not hooked in—at all! He starts by hanging on the pilot’s back but is quickly slipping off. Still, he manages to get one of his hands on the hanging bar beneath while still partially looped around the pilot.
Still, the two are now soaring high in the air through the mountains!
Needless to say, the pilot tries as quickly as possible to steer the glider back to the ground.
Although the pilot does his best to steer it back to Earth, he has difficulty turning it—and in the process, the glider starts getting more and more air. Soon enough, the pair is soaring above a forest so high—and finally, they’re able to start steering towards a clean area to land in. By the time they’re finally soaring in, Gursky has been clinging to the glider for more than two minutes!
Still, even as they get close to the ground, things don’t get much safer.
As they finally approach the ground, the glider levels off and Gurksy is hanging well below the bar.
When they’re close enough to the ground, Gurksy lets go—and though the clip in the video is in slow motion, the impact is actually in pretty high speed. Still, between the pilot’s maneuvering and Gursky’s upper arm strength, he was still able to get to the ground again relatively safely.
Regardless, Gursky did sustain some serious injuries as they hit the ground.
All told, he got away from the hang gliding accident with only a broken wrist and a torn bicep.
Gurksy’s video on YouTube has gotten nearly nine million views and after watching it, it’s easy to see why. Although the clip is terrifying, it’s also incredible that Gursky was able to hold on for so long. According to Gursky, the hang glider couldn’t have landed a moment sooner. “I didn’t have much grip left in me,” he said. “My hand was opening, I was slipping. I had his pant leg and that’s about it.” Despite everything though, Gursky said he would take another hang gliding trip because the first time got ruined. And to top it all off, he says he’s not mad at the pilot. “I am past that phase,” he said. “He did all he could and more. He is a good guy.”
Congratulations to these two for seeing the flight through safely at the end!
Watch the terrifying footage below.
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