Anthony Barry Roberts, a 55-year-old UK citizen, got a new lease of life at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital after he suffered severe head, facial and chest injuries while paragliding in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.

A trained paraglider with 15 years experience, Roberts faced sudden turbulence in weather which made him smash against a rock face and left suspended by his parachute.

According to Roberts, a Russian pilot who was also paragliding, landed near him, and risked his life to administer him first aid. Even though blinded by blood oozing from his face and feeling severe pain marked by acute swelling on his face, Roberts managed to send SOS from his satellite phone.

“He was first flown to the Army Hospital in Kangra where a chest tube was inserted because he had six fractured ribs and a ruptured lung. He was then shifted to the local medical college for CT scan and neurosurgical care. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was airlifted to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi,” said neurosurgeon Dr Rajendra Prasad who is treating Roberts.

Talking about the paraglider’s condition, Prasad said: “He had a compound comminuted fracture (splinter of bone in more than two fragments) of the frontal bone and fracture of frontal air sinus that resulted in air escaping inside the cranial cavity. On top of that he had extensive facial bones and skull base fractures. It was an intensely complicated surgery which involved repairing the covering of the brain (Dura) and stabilising the frontal and facial bone fractures. It is truly a medical miracle that he is alive.”

Roberts’ rescue was not a simple process either. He could be rescued only a day after the accident at around 7 a.m. after multiple clearances were taken to save a human life. His SOS was picked up in USA from where the weather centre at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was alerted, which in turn sent a mail to the Distress Cell at the commissioner’s office in Kangra.

Then an IAS officer, Jatin Lal, spent an entire night getting clearances from the local stations of the Army and Air Force. Finally a joint secretary in the Ministry of Defence gave clearance at 6:30 a.m. for an Air Force chopper to rescue the paraglider.