A skier’s daredevil attempt to launch himself into the air with a paraglider ended in failure on Saturday, with the man being airlifted to hospital.
Paramedics and rescue workers were called to the middle of the frozen lake Pyhäjärvi in Säkylä, western Finland, after the man crashed into the ice approximately one kilometre from the shore.
“Judging by the imprint he left, he must have hit the ground hard,” duty chief Timo Nurminen from Satakunta Fire and Rescue said.
Medical and rescue crews arrived by snowmobile and spent half a day trying to recover the man, who was believed to be suffering neck injuries, from the ice and arranging for him to be helicoptered to hospital.
The man had been among a group of around five hobbyists from Rauma who were paragliding on the ice.