Paraglider lucky to be alive after falling on to rocks

A PARAGLIDER who cheated death after plunging on to boulders when his canopy collapsed has been described as a "lucky lad".

Richard Jessop, a former RAF serviceman, broke both legs and numerous bones in his feet after crashing in Snowdonia, North Wales. The 40-year-old, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, managed to contact emergency services with a grid reference, before firing a distress flare.

During the terrifying fall, which was possibly from as high as 200ft, he tried to reinflate the wing, before he crashed into a field and was bounced and dragged along the ground.

He spent three weeks in hospital in Wales and is now in the spinal unit at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital. Doctors have told him that it will be months before he will be able to walk again.

Dave Thompson, of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, who is carrying out an investigation into the accident, said: "He is a lucky lad".