Man Saves Base Jumper Who Forgot To Put Leg Straps On

One amateur base jumper was clumsy enough to jump off a bridge without checking his gear if everything was in place. Luckily, experienced professional jumper Chris McDougall was close by to recognize that the amateur forgot to put the parachute leg straps on and managed to stop him from jumping unprepared and straight to his death.Show more

The Australian base jumping instructor had taken his students for a 110-meter base jump from a bridge in Croatia when this guy joined them in. McDougall was guiding his team of students when he noticed that the dude was preparing to jump next. He had his gear on and was ready to jump when McDougall saw that the man hadn't fastened his lag straps.

Basically what happens is if a base jumper doesn't use their leg straps, they can slip out of the harness the chute is attached to and plunge into certain death.

McDougall said he uploaded the video to highlight the importance of safety when base jumping. "I hope this video will raise awareness to how important it is to pay attention to detail when BASE jumping. So many new jumpers come into this sport thinking it is all about GoPro's and social media and they forget the fundamentals of how serious and dangerous this sport can be if respect is not given to every aspect of it. I am glad I saved someone's life, but each jumper must have the ability to save their own on each and every jump."

McDougall said he uploaded the video to tell the importance of safety of base jumping. "So many new jumpers come into this sport thinking it is all about Go Pro's and social media and they forget the fundamentals of how serious and dangerous this sport can be if respect is not given to every aspect of it."

This man should be forever grateful to Mr. McDougall because he saved his life and that is something you can’t put a price on. Base jumping can be dangerous. Base jumping is a sport that includes either parachuting or wingsuit flying from a building or cliff. Due to the lower heights of the jumps, base jumping is judged to be significantly riskier than skydiving.

Everyday heroes do exist, but they don’t wear capes, they wear parachutes. And leg straps. We are lucky that there are people like Chris out there and they are the heroes we need in life.