Deutsche Presse-Agentur
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A British man who survived a fall from the 15th storey of a central city Auckland apartment building early Sunday morning has avoided paralysis and is awake and laughing, Fairfax reported on Monday.
Tom Stilwell, 20, from Brighton, fell after attempting to gain access to his locked apartment by climbing over the balcony of an upstairs neighbour’s flat. He plummeted about 13 storeys, before landing on the roof of an adjacent building.
Stilwell suffered back and neck fractures, as well as internal injuries, a broken wrist and grazes, but is expected to be up and about in a week, his flatmate Beth Goodwin told Fairfax NZ News.
St John medical director Dr Tony Smith told the New Zealand Herald that surviving a fall from such a height was extraordinarily unusual.
“From that sort of height you can have injuries to everything and anything.”
And while Stilwell had been drinking, Smith said there was no evidence that alcohol, by relaxing the body, reduced the chances of serious injury.
“It’s like being in a car crash. Relaxed or not relaxed will not make a difference – if you’re going to hit something at speed, relaxed or not is not going to make too much difference.”
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