Paraglider airlifted to hospital after crashing in Karkloof

Advanced life support assistance was required to treat a man injured in a paragliding accident in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday evening.

Netcare 911 spokesman Shawn Herbst said the paramedics were called out by a local ambulance service at 6pm. The man‚ who is in his fifties‚ was out paragliding when he crashed into a tree. Emergency services were contacted by a friend of his. He sustained suspected spinal injuries as well as multiple fractures.

Once they had hiked to the area‚ paramedics stabilised him before a South African Air Force Agusta A109 LUH helicopter from 15 Squadron in Durban arrived to airlift the man to a local hospital. He is in a serious but stable condition‚ said Herbst.