screenshot via @Gursk3 Youtube
Chris Gursky, an American who was on vacation in Switzerland, has uploaded shocking video to YouTube that shows him holding on for dear life after his hang-gliding pilot failed to properly attach Gursky’s harness.
According to a Facebook post from Gursky — who was hang-gliding for the first time — his harness was not properly attached when he and a pilot launched themselves off a 4,000-foot mountain ledge over the Swiss Alps.
The video shows that Gursky was forced to hold on to hang-glider for over two-minutes to avoid potential injury or death.
Additionally, Gursky wrote that he as he was holding on, he remembers thinking “this is it” as they approached the ground.
The video was uploaded to YouTube with the following caption:
My first time Hang Gliding turned into a near death experience as my safety harness was never hooked to the Glider. For 2 Min. 14 seconds I had to hang on for my life! The landing was a rough one, but I lived to tell the story.
Somewhat shockingly, Gursky has no ill-will towards the pilot:
“While the pilot made a critical error in our pre-flight set up by not attaching me to the glider, he did all he could to get me down to the ground as quickly as possible while grabbing onto my harness and flying with one hand,” Gursky said.
As a result of the incident, Gursky broke his wrist — which required surgery — and also tore his left bicep. He said that he was released from the hospital the same day.
After just 24 hours, the video racked up over one million views on YouTube. Despite the near-death experience, Gursky says he is still open to hang-gliding in the future.
“I will go hang gliding again as I did not enjoy my first flight,” Gursky quipped at the end of the video.