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Paraglider pilot's brush with death after Aylesbury crash landing
THE wife of an Aylesbury man who fell nearly 100ft in a paragliding accident has told of her husband's amazing brush with death.
Speaking to The Bucks Herald this week, Lynn Lawrence said husband Tony escaped virtually unhurt and revealed that her daredevil spouse has not ruled out returning to the skies.
Mr Lawrence crash landed at around 7pm last Wednesday on the outskirts of town and was amazingly discharged from the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford that evening.
Mrs Lawrence said: "Tony had a bleed onto the brain following the accident, but went for a check up today (Tuesday) and has been given the OK.
"He has been getting headaches, but has been told that's normal and should pass in a couple of weeks. Immediately after the accident, he said he was going to give up - but he still has an interest in it and is now going to think about it for a couple of weeks."
She added: "He remembers getting into trouble, circling the area and trying to avoid the floodlights of the Meadowcroft all-weather pitch."
Residents spoke of their horror at seeing the accident unfold.
Elsie Pullinger of Vincent Road, Quarrendon, recounted the terrible moment when she and husband Dave realised Tony had lost control of his motorised paraglider.
Mrs Pullinger, 53, who alerted the emergency services, said: "I was going to take the dog for a walk and my husband was cleaning the car when we saw Tony about 90 feet above us. We actually know Tony to say hello to and are used to seeing him paragliding in the area. We could see he was in difficulty, however, as the strings connected to his parachute were all twisted. You could tell he was going to crash."
She continued: "To be honest, I thought he would be dead when we got to him. My husband jumped across to the other side of the river, however, and saw that Tony had got up and unstrapped himself. Dave then got him to lie down and stayed with Tony until the paramedics arrived."
She added: "He was very lucky to survive - it was such a huge fall. The paramedics and fire brigade were brilliant; I was so impressed with how they coped."
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Weather for Aylesbury
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
