Phuket Bungee Jumper In Near-fatal Accident

[george]

Phuket bungee jumper in near-fatal accident

A jumper takes the plunge at Phuket's Jungle

Bungy Jump in Kathu. Gazette File Photo

KATHU, PHUKET: -- A British tourist has returned to the UK following treatment in Phuket and Bangkok for horrendous injuries sustained from a bungee jumping accident at the Jungle Bungy Jump center in Phuket.

The bungee jumper, Rishi Baveja, hit the water below the 165-foot high platform at around 130km/h after the harness slipped from his legs during the jump.

Luckily he took the full force of the impact on his chest, escaping head injuries that could have killed him, the Daily Mail reported today.

Mr Baveja reportedly suffered a ruptured spleen, collapsed lungs, a torn liver and severe bruising, spending a month in a Bangkok hospital after being transfered from Phuket.

Doctors likened his injuries to those of a car crash victim, the report said.

The entire accident, which took place on July 30, was captured on a video which can be viewed on the Daily Mail’s website.

Terry Pearce, owner of Jungle Bungy Jump, said, “We’re very sorry it happened. We’ve been open for 17 and a half years and we’ve never had an accident before.”

Describing the accident as “bizarre”, Mr Pearce said Mr Baveja had ignored instructions by jumping feet-first.

“He panicked and bicycle-kicked his feet out of the harness,” he said.

Jungle Bungy Jump had changed the material used to wrap the jumper’s legs to a new material which meant accidents were now “impossible”, he said.

“If someone jumps exactly the way he did, it won’t happen again. I can guarantee that,” he said. “You can come and try it yourself.”

The center’s insurance company had paid for Mr Baveja’s hospital treatment, he said.

Meanwhile, at the time of writing Jungle Bungy Jump’s website still claims, “We have a 100% safety record.”

This would be changed this afternoon, Mr Pearce said.

Asked why the claim remained on the site two months after a near-fatal accident, Mr Pearce said, “We just forgot about it”.

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-10-05

[Thai at Heart]

Expertly covered up.

Accident occurred in July! and not a whiff of the story anywhere.

[sorensen]

Phuket must be one of the most fatal tourist destination in the World....

[bkkjames]

Expertly covered up.

Accident occurred in July! and not a whiff of the story anywhere.

Covered up? And to think they reported the news about a farang who fell off his motobike in Samui instead. Oh the shame.

Edited October 5, 2009 by bkkjames

[kmj]

“He panicked and bicycle-kicked his feet out of the harness,” he said.

Well it couldn't be Jungle Bungy Jump fault could it ...

[Jingthing]

“You can come and try it yourself.”

Ummm. No thanks.

[britmaveric]

Hmmm find it odd how the lad bicycle kicked out of the restraints.

I've done the Jungle Bungee Jump in Chiang Mai and it was good fun. Basically they wrap your lower legs in this velcro harness thing over and over. Pretty dam_n hard to even move. Basically need to 2 feet hop to the edge because no other way to move your legs. I was actually impressed by the safety - triple checks.

I think I'd have to put the blame on the lad who was jumping - seems he did not follow directions.

[holidaze]

Bungee jumping in Phuket was on our agenda. Was!!

Gotta find some other fun thing to do instead.

[bkkjames]

Bungee jumping in Phuket was on our agenda. Was!!

Gotta find some other fun thing to do instead.

Cliff Diving?

[lannarebirth]

Expertly covered up.

Accident occurred in July! and not a whiff of the story anywhere.

I learned about this about 30 minutes after it happened and was curious why no news reports ever surfaced. I was in the home of my friend a doctor whose job description is to take care of medical emergencies for MNC and other companies. I heard him arrange the helicopter and order a local doctor to the scene. Don't know why it's never come to light since that day.

[britmaveric]

Why report old news? Bit late if you ask me...

[churchill]

Briton survives bungee fall in ThailandCambridge graduate hit water at 80mph when cord came loose on jump in Phuket

Fifty metres (165ft) above a Thai lagoon, ankles bound and secured to a bungee cord, Rishi Baveja shuffled to the edge of a small platform and threw himself off.

Horrifyingly, instead of the cord "bungeeing" the 22-year-old back up after unfurling, the harness securing his feet unravelled with disconcerting ease. An unsecured Baveja hit the water at 80mph (130kmh), sustaining injuries likened to those of a car crash victim.

Doctors told Baveja he was lucky to be alive after he took the force of the impact on his chest, suffering a ruptured spleen, torn liver, collapsed lungs and massive bruising. He spent a month in a Bangkok hospital following the jump on 30 July this year.

"I'm very lucky," he told the Daily Mail. "If I had landed head first I would be brain-damaged, or dead."

The Briton was in Phuket on a month-long trip to celebrate graduating from the University of Cambridge. He paid £50 to Jungle Bungy Jump, whose web page on a Phuket tourism site boasts that all activities are "accident free since June 14 1992".

Terry Pearce, the owner of Jungle Bungy Jump, said today it was the first accident the company had experienced in more than 140,000 jumps over 17 years.

"He didn't follow instructions," Pearce said. "He jumped with his feet first, panicked and kicked his way out of his harness. In 17 years we've never had anyone jump like that before."

He said Jungle Bungy Jump had purchased new which would make it "impossible" for anyone to come loose.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/0...e-fall-thailand

[malcy]

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player...tid=43530878001

i think this is it poor fellow

[Patsycat]

Did you all hear me go WAAH?!!

[Scott]

It's just not a place where there is much training or concern for safety.

Hope he makes a full recovery.

[Bagwan]

Bungee jumping in Phuket was on our agenda. Was!!

Gotta find some other fun thing to do instead.

Find a bar without blaring music to burn missionaries by, take a table with a full view of the street, order a large cool one of your choice - and watch the rest of the world make idiots of themselves. Plenty of bar games to play such as first to spot a tourist wearing socks and sandals, wonder which Oxfam shop the fat farang lady bought her wrong sized sun dress from, calculate the size of the weenie of the guy riding a two wheeled contraption with the front wheel half a block in front of the rest of the machine that makes too much noise. ( A tip here - it is inversely proportionate to the width of the handlebars). My favourite is to spot the Dame Edna lookalike. Do nothing but let the imagination run wild; it's fun.

[harrycallahan]

There is video of the whole thing, it was on Australian TV tonight.

This has still frames anyway

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/0...e-fall-thailand

I calculate his speed after falling 50 metres as 113 km/h. Coincidentally I was playing around with the gravity equations today working how fast a 4th story suicide jumper hit the ground at so have it fresh in mind.

They sometimes do it over hard surfaces..... or what if the water wasn't very deep?

Edit: Daily Mail has the video

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...l#ixzz0T1O3cEH2

Edited October 5, 2009 by harrycallahan

[chessplayer]

Could he have like, done what synchronised divers do, in stead of going in chest first, hold your arms overhead and dive beautifully into the water?

[rayong09]

I was in Rhodes a few years ago sitting around the pool with my mates as you do. The deepened of the pool was for the bungee jumper to slightly go under with their head then bounce back up. Of course once someone was going to jump the supposedly safety guys would clear the deep end free of swimmers.

Anyway music was playing we was all having a laugh and then BANG a girl had jumped and the wind had blown her slightly to the side she smashed her head full on the white stone edging you see on pools, once she went back up her face was instantly black with severe bruising. The tension of the bungee rope saved her if it had not stretched she would of been dead. 2 hours later its back open again, so it's not just Thailand!

[arkom]

"You can come and try it yourself."

Ummm. No thanks.

If its so safe why doesn't the owner try it first.

[britmaveric]

^I'm sure he has many times!!

[CRUNCHER]

Can someone help me please. Tried cleaning my glasses, but I still couldn't see any bycycle kicks. anything else I can do to find them.

Poor bloke. Hope he makes a full recovery!

[sunreader]

I'm surprised Phukets JJ hasn't been to Rishi 's hospital bed demanding he pay 200,000 baht for breaking the bungee jump harness.

[surangw]

thai logic would always blame on the farang, if not for kicking loose, then for trying the jump in the first place, orultimately , if he had not chosen to come to thailand in the first place it would not have happened.

BTW, any one remember the bungi catapult near expat in patong ( still in operation?)

[Thongkorn]

I Think that if humans were ment to fly we would have wings

[arkom]

I Think that if humans were ment to fly we would have wings

He should of have drank a Red Bull, it gives you wings...lol

But wow that 's sucks for him, hopefully makes speed recovery.

[daveh]

It's just not a place where there is much training or concern for safety.

Hope he makes a full recovery.

I agree. I've bungee jumped before and thought about doing it again. But never would I consider doing it in Thailand, that and skydiving. However, I do SCUBA, which could be nearly as dangerous. However, I've never seen a SCUBA operation in Thailand with Thai dive masters.

Dave.

[Rumfoord]

thai logic would always blame on the farang, if not for kicking loose, then for trying the jump in the first place, orultimately , if he had not chosen to come to thailand in the first place it would not have happened.

BTW, any one remember the bungi catapult near expat in patong ( still in operation?)

TVforum poster logic always blame the Thai.

why not read the OP? "Terry Pearce, owner of Jungle Bungy Jump, said ... Mr Baveja had ignored instructions by jumping feet-first. “He panicked and bicycle-kicked his feet out of the harness,”

according to their website:

"The jump is New Zealand & Aussie owned, with a new zealand management team bringing the western high standards for safety and service. Our jump crew is highly skilled, efficient, and most importantly regards safety as PRIORITY ONE!"

[britmaveric]

^thai(s) are the technicians or jump masters.

[cdnvic]

with a new zealand management team bringing the western high standards for safety and service

Having worked there for years I have to say the safety standards in NZ are the worst of any western country.