A 52-year-old man from Pompano Beach, Florida, miraculously survived a 500-foot fall into the ocean while paragliding. The incident occurred just before noon off the coast of Singer Island near Riviera Beach, according to the Riviera Beach Police Department.
The paraglider had taken off from Ocean Cay Park in Jupiter and was heading south when a sudden wind gust caused the dramatic plunge. Bystanders captured the event on cellphone video, showing the paraglider spiraling downwards before splashing into the ocean.
Sarah Williamson, a lifeguard with Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue, noticed the paraglider’s erratic pattern and immediately sprang into action. “I just started running, and I radioed my other partner,” she told WFLX. “We grabbed our rescue tube and our rescue board and paddled out in tandem.”
Williamson explained that a snorkeler played a crucial role in the rescue by diving underwater to free the man from tangled paraglider lines. Together with other beachgoers, they managed to bring the uninjured man and his craft to shore.
The paraglider’s identity has not been released, but he walked away from the incident with only minor cuts and scrapes. Williamson expressed amazement at the man’s survival, saying, “Five hundred feet is an incredible thing to survive.”
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