Peru man survives 1,500-meter fall with tangled parachute

By: 10 years ago

LIMA — A Peruvian air force NCO whose parachute malfunctioned during a training exercise survived a 1,500-meter (5,000-feet) fall with nary a broken bone.

“It’s a miracle he’s alive,” emergency room doctor Guillermo Pacheco said. “It was the will of God he survived.”

Amasifuen Gamarra, 31, underwent a battery of medical tests at the hospital in Arequipa, in southern Peru, Pacheco said, “and there weren’t any fractures.”

The doctor said Gamarra jumped from a military plane at 1,500 meters, but when he went to open his parachute, the webbing wrapped around his neck and he lost consciousness.

“We don’t know what cushioned his fall, but he’s alive. It’s a miracle,” the doctor repeated.

The sergeant, who served in the air force for eight years, was transferred to a military hospital for additional medical testing.