Paraglider rescued from tree
Published: June 1, 2006
A PARAGLIDER was at the centre of a major rescue mission when he got stuck 60 feet up a tree.
Father-of-three Roy O’Brien plunged into an oak tree in Ibberton, near Sturminster Newton.
Mr O’Brien’s wife and three children watched from the ground yesterday afternoon as two helicopters and a 25-strong rescue team came to his aid.
Mr O’Brien, who is from Guildford in Surrey, escaped unharmed from the accident. He was enjoying a family camping holiday when he went for the flight on his paraglider and got stuck.
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Weymouth fire station manager Jock Nairn said: “I don’t know whether it was a freak gust of wind that pushed him on or a freak lack of wind that caused him to veer towards the tree.
“It’s certainly very unusual.”
An off-duty firefighter saw the accident and called for help.
The police helicopter flew to Poole to pick up a special rope and rescue team and Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was scrambled.
But when the helicopters arrived they had to fly high to avoid ten other gliders still in the air.
Mr Nairn said: “We had to take an awful lot of care not to disturb them.”
Two members of the special rope and rescue team climbed the tree, harnessed the glider and lowered him to the ground.
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