A paraglider has reunited with the rescuers who saved him after he fell from the sky north of Brisbane.
Maverick Robbins crashed into a sandstone cliff at Rainbow Beach in October and was forced to hang on for dear life.
“I put my feet out in front of me, and it just impacted so hard,” Robbins said.
“I felt immediately in an enormous amount of pain.
“There was a small little shrub next to me, I managed to grab it and was just holding onto kind of like an anchor.”
The Gold Coast resident pulled out his phone and called for help.
Firefighters raced to the cliff top to secure the 23-year-old while a LifeFlight helicopter took off from the Sunshine Coast, dropping in critical care doctor Carly Silvester.
“We were concerned about his spine primarily,” Silvester said.
The firefighters cleared a path for Robbins to be winched out.
“I had to have it wide enough for two people, made it nice and level and packed down,” firefighter Ben Brown-Graham said.
“Winching Maverick, it was tricky, dealing with the downwash, the aircraft was a little bit lower for the winch, but also that sand being kicked,” rescue crew officer Callum Good said.
Robbins’ back was broken in three places but he has made a full recovery.
He has thanked the firefighters and LifeFlight crew.
“I know that without the LifeFlight crew, I wouldn’t be here today,” Robbins said.
He now wants to be a pilot to help save others.
“We can’t live our lives in fear and I think that we need to do things we love and tings that make us feel alive,” he said.
