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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Skydiver survives 6,000ft fall without parachute

James Boole, a skydiver, has spoken of how he fell 6,000ft without opening his parachute and lived.

By John Bingham


The 31-year-old from Tamworth, Staffs, thought that he was going to die after crashing onto the snow-covered mountain in Russia after a filming stunt which went wrong.

But despite suffering multiple injuries, he was rescued and flown home to Britain in a body brace.

Mr Boole, who has one child, now describes himself as "the luckiest man in the world".

The accident happened while he was filming another skydiver performing a jump onto a mountain side for a television documentary.

As he plunged at 100mph, he was meant to open his parachute following a signal from the other man.

But because of a mix-up, he pulled the cord with only a few seconds to spare.

Landing was like being "hit by a speeding truck", he said.

He reportedly broke his back, cracked a rib, chipped several teeth and bruised a lung.

"I was screaming in pain, coughing up blood," he told the Sun.

"I was very worried I had got internal injuries and I might be dying.

"I thought about telling someone my last words."

Mr Boole, a mechanical engineer by training, has been parachuting for 12 years and has completed more than 2,000 jumps.

As an aerial cameraman, his work has been featured on the BBC's Top Gear programme.

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