Ever fancied trying your hand at paragliding? Well, this might make you think twice...
It turns out even the most experienced of paragliders sometimes find themselves in sticky situations, which is exactly what happened to one man, who was lucky to escape with his life.
Advert
Shocking footage captured the moment 60-year-old Eric Démarez was sent flying into dense forest at terrifying speed in a horror crash.
The experienced paraglider had been attempting to land over the Bauges mountains, near Chambéry in France, when strong winds threw a spanner in his plans.
Eric, a radiographer from Lille, France, spent several minutes seeking out a place to land while getting stuck in rising currents of wind. But things were about to go from bad to worse, because when he eventually found a spot to land, he descended too low and began to lose control.
"The weather conditions were strong for me, so I tried to land but I was unable to go down," Eric recalled. "When I finally found a place with no updraft, I went down too low. I still tried to reach the landing field."
Advert
Unfortunately for Eric, he then found himself in a turbulent area of wind, and after his wing partially closed, he failed to react quickly enough, losing control and ending up hurtling into the trees.
"I was in a dangerous area, where I should not have been. I was exhausted and did not control my kite movements well," he continued.
Despite having years of experience behind him, the whole ordeal left Eric feeling pretty shaken, admitting that the incident had happened so fast, he barely even had time to feel scared.
He said: "It was very fast, I did not understand anything, I don't remember ever being really scared. It was too fast."
Advert
Perhaps miraculously, Eric managed to limp away from the accident with just an internal muscle injury to his tibia and a dent in his pride - though he doesn't take for granted how lucky he's been.
He added: "A similar fall near a cliff or on a rocky area could have been fatal, luckily, I passed through the trees, taking some branches with me.
"I was able to retrieve my wing, untangle my gear and return to my car... Limping!"
Thanks to a bodycam, Eric even managed to capture the entire incident on video, which is enough to put anyone off attempting paragliding for life.
Emma Rosemurgey