Arbeitsblatt: Luckiest Woman

Printer Friendly Paraglider hailed luckiest woman alive 16th February 2007, 17:15 WST German paraglider is being hailed as the luckiest woman in the world after surviving violent storm cell that sucked her higher than Mount Everest during flight over northern NSW. Ewa Wisnierska, 35, spent 40 minutes unconscious while being carried to height of about 9,946 metres, where she was pounded by hail, narrowly avoided lightning and was covered in ice. 40-year-old Chinese paraglider sucked into the same storm cell was found dead yesterday, day after going missing. The pair were among 200 paragliders taking part in training flights on Wednesday, ahead of next week Paragliding World Championships in Manilla, when the violent storm struck. Ms Wisnierska said she was unable to avoid the storm when it formed as she flew high above the rugged country. I was just praying, please, please put me somewhere away from the cloud, Ms Wisnierska said from her hotel room, where she was resting her bruised and frostbitten body. Catapulted upwards like leaf, she was thrust higher and higher into the atmosphere at speeds of up to 20 metres per second. As she climbed above the height of the 8,850m Mt Everest, near to the cruising height of jumbo jets, Ms Wisnierska noticed ice forming on her sunglasses and on her instruments, which kept track of her violent ride. She could hear lightning around her but was helpless to do anything and knew her chances of survival were almost zero. I knew can only have luck, cant do anything and got it. At that height, temperatures can drop to minus 40C or 50C. Eventually Ms Wisnierska lost consciousness. 1 von 2 22.2.2007 9:02 Uhr Printer Friendly Doctors told her later that blacking out may have saved her life, because her heart and body slowed down. More than 40 minutes later, and at height of 6,900 metres, she woke to find herself still stuck in the storm, surrounded by darkness and with her gloves frozen. It was amazing because the glider was still flying I dont know how is it possible because there was hail everywhere, into the glider, into my harness and it was still flying, Ms Wisnierska said. I was shaking and everything, but thought just need to fly straight and get out of this cloud. I thought need to go down just to warm up. Despite being dazed and confused from lack of oxygen, Ms Wisnierska turned her attention to getting back to ground after eventually escaping the storm clouds. I thought where could land?, Ms Wisnierska said. I couldnt see any road or anything, but then saw small farm, and tried to fly towards it, and landed very safe. Unable to gather her thoughts to call for help, she waited alone for several minutes before her crew called on the radio, and were able to locate her, about 60km from her launch site. They found her still covered with ice. I dont know who to thank, thanked the angels, but dont believe in God, Ms Wisnierska said. Godfrey Wenness, the organiser of next week championships, says Ms Wisnierska is the luckiest woman alive. This is like winning Lotto 10 times in row, that how lucky this woman is, Mr Wenness said. I would say she is the luckiest woman in the world right now, not exaggerating or being sensational at all. The Chinese man died, she survived, there no logical reason why she got away with it. Despite frostbite to her ears and legs, Ms Wisnierska says she still hopes to compete in the world championships next week. Flying is too fantastic to stop because of an accident, she said. Championship organisers today confirmed 42-year-old He Zhongpin, pilot with the Chinese paragliding team, died after being sucked into the same series of thunderstorms on Wednesday and was found 75km from his launch site. While an exact cause of death is yet to be determined, it is believed he died from combination of extreme hypothermia and hypoxia, or lack of oxygen to the brain. While all pilots were extremely saddened by Mr He death, the championships would continue as scheduled, organisers said. AAP 2 von 2 22.2.2007 9:02 Uhr