Briton survives 15-storey fall from Auckland flat

Tom Stilwell survived a fall from the 15th storey of an Auckland apartment. Picture: submitted

Tom Stilwell, 20, from Brighton, fell while trying to balcony-hop from the flat above after finding himself locked out of his 14th-floor Auckland apartment.

The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday after Mr Stilwel had spent a night out with friends. Miraculously he survived and was awake and talking in the city’s hospital yesterday after suffering broken bones, grazes and internal injuries, local media said.

It is believed he fell 13 storeys from the Volt building in Queen Street before landing on the roof of a lower adjacent building, two floors from the concrete road below. Landing on the roof of the adjacent building may have saved his life.

The man fell 15 floors from a block of flats in Auckland. Picture: TSPL

Mr Stilwell fell after waking the woman living above him, Geraldine Bautista, and asking if he could climb from her balcony to his, one storey below. “I could see in his face that he was tipsy, not really drunk,’’ she said. “He said ‘please, I won’t really bother you’. I thought he was joking.

“I thought I can let him know that I’d do a favour for him, I’ll show him the balcony and let him know it’s really impossible.”

But before she could do anything, Stilwell had hoisted himself over the ledge. She took his hand, but then lost grip and he dropped.

“He didn’t even scream. He just fell, then there was a loud noise that was heard all over,” Ms Bautista said. “I had to remind myself it was not just a thing that had fallen, it was a human.”

A spokesman for Auckland City Hospital confirmed that Mr Stilwell was in a stable condition in the Department of Critical Care. He is believed to work for Auckland Transport in the city.

His flatmate, Dave Thomas, 22, told the New Zealand Herald that his friend had had a “fair bit to drink”. He said it was unusual behaviour for a man “normally the sensible one out of all of us”.

Mr Stilwell’s father David spoke to his son yesterday. He said: “In the circumstances, he is incredibly good. He has had an incredible, fortunate escape having fallen an enormous distance.

“‘Miracle’ is an over-used term, but it really was. It is very difficult to understand how he survived. We are all just very, very grateful.”

His added: “He has lots of injuries, many broken bones, but they are not life-threatening. It’s just incredible. He is absolutely fine. He’s a very lucky man.”