NZ teen survives 16-story fall onto concrete floor

This is incredible. I wouldn't survive a one-story fall onto a bed.

"The newspaper said the garage roof—made of sheet iron and filled with insulation—may have broken his fall."

Gee. Ya think? Or is it more likely that

“God must have been with him. He’s got an angel looking after him, that’s for sure,”

I love the way AP gives equal credence to both "theories." I like the way that they present the first as doubtful, but present the second as the account of an eyewitness. That is fair and balanced journalism.

Assuming that alcohol was not involved, this might be a record breaker for a fall from a building onto concrete.

And for what it's worth, if God and his angel wanted to toss me out of a 16th story window, I think I would pass.

wind?

Just my two cents, but I'd say that God is with those who don't fall off balconies...

I wonder if this is a record, for longest fall without death..well good thing he's alive, if I were him I would never step foot on another balcony!

he has been named in the All Blacks for this weekends rugby test against Australia....we need someone who can take the high ball and come down safely

We need a whole Army of men that can take a fall like this. That miraculous. < :-)

Hopefully this kid will have a speedy recovery and his injuries will heal 100%!

I bet he won't "play" on balconies anymore. Glad he's ok though.

To answer VelvetRosetta:

This is not a record for the longest fall and surviving. A few years ago, an Equatorian man, washing a window in a very tall building - I don't remember the city, maybe in New York City - fell from a about 60th floor high, and survived, even though having his bones broken in several pieces.

60 floors!!! wow, he's made of stone, thats crazy!..you would think that even at 16 floors you would be dead, they should ask him what he was thinking as he fell,n likely have a heart attack on the way down, be dead before I hit ground! I would more than imagine at 60 floors.. exploded insides and head busted open!..

editing...I would more than likely have a heart attack..

@Cyborg009

a 60-floor fall is impressive but still doesn't beat the record, not by a long way. A Russian (Soviet) bomber pilot fell 22,000 feet (6500 metres) after being shot down by German fighters in 1942. He figured he'd wait before opening his parachute to avoid making himself an easy target, but fainted on the way down. That's got to be one rude awakening!

Moderator: Stay on topic please.

Woow, I got quick response to my comments here. Sorry, I had given inacurate information. It had happened in the Manhattan Island of New York City, was just 47 floor, not 60. Anyway, see the news here:

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/national_world&id=5869638&status=ok

Woow, I didn't know about the story of that Soviet bomber who fell 22,000 feet(from Kyushujoe). That's alos really amazing.

Velvet, the weird thing is that people who are really really drunk can do this a lot better than sober people. That is what surprises me. The kid was sober. Probably.

If you think of your body as a blood filled sack with sharp sticks inside of it, then you want to hit the ground like a water balloon. Alcohol helps.

Because this kid is 15, I am assuming he was not drinking. Anyway, the roof is what saved him. If it bent well and then broke, I can see how he would be ok.

Well, but that is just physics. AP thinks we should consider the housekeeper's opinion... the real answer is ..... God and..... Angels.

God and Angels..must be cause to live this, even falling on the roof after what 15, floors? not sure...he could have easily died, land the wrong way break the neck etc..extremely lucky!

And ty Cyborg, I will ck that post out..

A 22,000 ft fall..how can anyone free falling like that and with the velocity he would be flying threw the air towards ground..how could he not splatter? Wouldnt the bones and skull crush..truly amazing!

Klein..

Well Velvet, once a human reaches terminal velocity, they stop accelerating. It is not as fast as you might think. About 180 km/hr. There are some science websites, one specificially I remember, that gives advice on what to do if you are free falling. The advice is extremely interesting. The most memorable is "avoid water."

Well. Maybe I found the links. http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-a-Long-Fall and this is a little more humorous:

http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/carkeet.html

There are plenty of others. It is not an impossible thing to do. It is apparently a huge challenge to survive a fall like that, but it is kind of like swimming across a 200 m river filled with piranhas. If you ever have to do it, you could make it...

or not. If you don't make it, it is no big deal. But if you do? Wow. It is sign from God.

By the way, you might also want to check out Snopes.com. Some claims of falls are not well documented.

His fall was broken by..Iron!

Thats one tough guy!

Klein..I have "heard" not saying it is true, but that ppl can get hurt more by falling into water at high altitudes than on the ground..

and ty I will ck out those links... =)

Klein has illustrated to us why the conservatives got steered from journalism. Of course, they will swear it was a conspiracy!

The roof broke his fall. If you want to believe God put it there, go ahead, just keep it out of my news articles.

I hope people are picking up on my sarcasm. Ok. Velvet. Check the links.

The main problem with water is that if you break yourself up or get injured, you can drown in very shallow water, and if the water is shallow, you are pretty well dead anyway. So you are kind of out of luck either way with water. And Velvet, there is also what I would call "the enema effect", which just has to be avoided at all costs.

If I were falling, I would try to aim for a marshmallow factory or a field with fluffy puffed up soil so I could make a Finnish Farmers/Wile E. Coyote impact. But one of the articles I linked to talks about awnings and cars and sheet metal roofing. Those are good bets. You either get a trampoline effect or it uses some of your impact energy for its own collapse, which lessens the energy your body has to absorb.

If the kid were smart enough to know that, what is he doing playing on a 16th floor balcony?

"what to do if you are free falling"

Pretend it's not happening.

Lol @ Sarge!!

Much easier the higher you fall from!

Klein2 at 02:02 PM JST - 26th July Because this kid is 15, I am assuming he was not drinking

Funny. 15 year old, falling off a 16 story balcony.. I assumed he was.

Not everyone has to be drunk to fall, accidents happen everyday, means nothing...

Probably this young man is now receiving proposals of marriage from women (mostly) all over New Zealand.

VelvetRosetta at 01:15 AM JST - 27th July Not everyone has to be drunk to fall, accidents happen everyday, means >nothing...

True you don't have to be drunk to fall from anywhere. But if you look at statistics for teenagers and tragic incidents such as motor verhicle accidents and falls from high places such as cliffs, buildings, etc. there is a correlation with alchohol as well as drugs. So it may not be the case in this instance, but you;re completely wrong if you think it "means nothing".

""what to do if you are free falling"

Pretend it's not happening.""

Every day, at least once, I make it a point to pretend I am not falling.