Re: [cesslon] Dam, Another aussie critically injured
Just for your information.
The line
"BASE jumping is illegal in Australia and has claimed several lives in recent years". was changed to
"BASE jumpers should get permission to jump from buildings or structures such as the bridge". This resulted from an email I sent to the reporter, Jano Gibson and was changed very soon after he got the email.
Well done to Jano. A positive result from the media for that particular component of the story.
The story is at:
http://www.smh.com.au/ ------------------------------------
Harbour Bridge BASE jumper critical
By Jano Gibson and AAP
April 14, 2005
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The public walkway on the Harbour Bridge ... where the man jumped.
Photo: Jano Gibson
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BASE jumping action
A 39-year-old man is in critical condition in Royal North Shore Hospital after BASE jumping off
the Harbour Bridge in the dead of night.
Police said a 39-year-old man jumped from the public walkway on the eastern side of the bridge about 2.30am (AEST), Thursday.
Inspector Glenn Finniss, crime manager of the water police, said police initially had no idea that a BASE jump had caused the man's injuries.
Ambulance officers had received a call claiming the injured man had been hit by a boat.
But when he was examined at hospital doctors discovered his injuries were consistent with that of someone who had fallen from a great height.
``Once they can get X-rays they can see there's more to it than being hit by a boat,'' NSW Ambulance spokesman, Craig Watkins, said.
Inspector Finniss said the man received extensive injuries to his spine and pelvis as well as internal injuries.
He said Harbour Bridge security guards had seen a BASE jumper leap from the bridge and then be hauled into a small runabout boat directly below.
The boat, with four people on board, then sped to Blue's Point where an ambulance met them.
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AdvertisementInspector Finniss said no parachute was found on the injured man or in the runabout boat.
He said police were yet to interview the boat's occupants.
He said two similar BASE jumps had occurred off the Harbour Bridge in the past couple of months.
``Same scenario where a boat picks them up and speeds off,'' he said.
He said the barbed wire used to stop people leaping off the Bridge was no deterrent.
``They somehow work their way over the top of it. We're talking about acts of stupidity here. If somebody wants to do an act of stupidity you really can't police it or build things to prevent it,'' he said.
Police are appealing for information from anyone who may have seen the incident.
Nic Feteris, who has legally BASE jumped from the Harbour Bridge on two occasions, said the accident was tragic.
"(The first time I jumped) was for a Mission Impossible film. I was doubling for the hero who fell off the Bridge and miraculously opened the parachute just before hitting the water. The other time was for my own adventure documentary film production," he said.
Jimmy Freeman, one of Australia's leading BASE jumpers, told smh.com.au that despite its prestige, BASE jumpers tend to steer clear of the Bridge because it is too easy to get caught.
"Not many people jump it at all. I haven't heard of it being jumped for about three or four years," Mr Freeman, who has notched up close to 1100 BASE jumps in six years, said.
"You've got security guards, cameras, razor wire. It's just too much of a risk to try and get around. You are almost guaranteed to get busted for it," he said.
Mr Freeman said he would love to jump from the bridge if he could get permission.
BASE is an acronym for the four main types of objects jumped from - buildings, antenna, spans and earth (cliffs).
BASE jumpers should get permission to jump from buildings or structures such as the bridge.
Among Australian BASE jumpers killed in recent years were Sydney man Roland Simpson, who died last year when a jump from a building in Shanghai, China, went wrong.
Brisbane mechanic Jason Fitz-Herbert was on his way to attend Mr Simpson's funeral in Canberra last October when killed in a jump in the NSW Southern Highlands.