Chris Mcdougall / Viral HogA novice base jumper narrowly avoided falling to his death, when a professional pulled him to safety with less than two seconds to spare.
Australian base jumper Chris McDougall saved a man’s life when the rogue amateur crashed one of his student sessions.
As the seasoned pro noticed the beginner was about to jump without leg straps – which, with a quick Google search, we have learnt are vital to surviving a base jump – McDougall ran over and pulled the man back before he jumped to his certain death with just seconds to spare.
McDougall was readying his own students for something called a rollover – FYI, this is when you haul yourself over a fenced off bridge and proceed to throw yourself off it with only a parachute for company – when a ‘random bloke’ crashed his class.
It seemed the novice was more concerned with his GoPro than securing his parachute; an oversight which could have resulted in a viral video with a very different tone had McDougall not been around.
GiphyMcDougall wrote on YouTube:
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.
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 – who labelled the incident ‘one of the most retarded fucking things I’ve ever seen’ – isn’t alone in giving this maverick a rather cutting review. Other base jumpers have taken to forums to compliment him on his bravery and/or stupidity.
BaseJumper.com
BaseJumper.comEvery day heroes do exist but they don’t wear capes, they wear parachutes.
And leg straps.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.