A HIKER survived a 50ft tumble down a waterfall — despite “hitting every rock on the way down”.
Gerry McLelland, 39, suffered a broken back, leg and ankle in his fall.
2Gerry McLelland, 39, suffered a broken back, leg and ankle after falling 50ft down a waterfallCredit: SWNS
2Gerry avoided near certain death by pulling himself out of the water before another steep 60ft dropCredit: SWNSThe dad of one slipped at Grey Mare’s Tail on a hike in the Scottish Borders.
After the first fall, he was pinned underwater as he raced towards another 60ft drop which would almost certainly have killed him.
He said: “I was thinking, ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die’. I had to accept this was my time.
“I stopped fighting and let myself go. That saved me because the current pushed me away from the waterfall. It gave me a split second to grab something.”
He was able to pull himself from the water but saw his foot was twisted the wrong way round.
The pals he was with called for help and he was winched up into a rescue helicopter.
Gerry spent five nights in hospital in Glasgow but is now recuperating at his parents’ home in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire.
The engineer said he was still virtually bed-bound and expected to be off work for six months, adding: “I’m here, I’m alive. I just remind myself that every day is going to be better.”
Story Credit: thesun.co.uk