Base jumper rushed to hospital after parachute fails to open when jumping off Beachy Head 

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Base jumper is rushed to hospital after parachute fails to open when jumping off 530ft cliff at Beachy Head

  • The alarm was raised at about 9.15am today when the parachute failed to open
  • The casualty was rescued from the base of the cliffs by a Coastguard paramedic
  • Others from the team of basejumpers were taken off the beach by lifeboat crews 

By Antony Thrower For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A basejumper was rushed to hospital after he leapt from Beachy Head and his parachute did not deploy.

Coastguard crews, RNLI, and an ambulance were called to the scene near Eastbourne in East Sussex at 9.15am.

The casualty was rescued from the base of the cliff and taken to Brighton Hospital.

The extreme sports fan was rescued from the base of the cliffs of Beachy Head in Eastbourne, East Sussex

A spokesman for Eastbourne RNLI said: ‘Our volunteer crew were paged at 9.30am today and requested to launch both Eastbourne lifeboats to assist local coastguards and the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter with an injured base jumper at the base of the cliffs at Beachy Head who required medical evacuation.

‘The inshore lifeboat crew were put ashore to assist the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter Paramedic who had been winched down to the casualty.

‘The casualty was eventually recovered into the Coastguard helicopter and flown to hospital.

‘The remaining base jumpers were taken off the beach by the Inshore Lifeboat transferred to the All Weather Lifeboat and returned safely to Birling Gap where they were met by local coastguards.’

Teams from the RNLI, Coastguard and ambulance crews were called to the scene this morning

Teams from the RNLI, Coastguard and ambulance crews were called to the scene this morning

Pictures showed the helicopter crews rescuing the basejumper from the bottom of the infamous Beachy Head.

A spokesman from the coastguard added: ‘The Coastguard Rescue Teams from Eastbourne, Birling Gap and Newhaven, the RNLI lifeboat from Eastbourne, the search and rescue helicopter from Lydd and the South East Coast Ambulance Service attended the scene.

‘The casualty was winched by the search and rescue helicopter and airlifted to Brighton Hospital where they were passed into the care of medical staff.’