A teacher who fell 50 feet off his balcony on holiday directly onto concrete managed to survive the ordeal with minor injuries.
Nicholas Jones, 35, had gone to sit on his balcony after having a few drinks while on holiday in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
But the floor was wet and slippery from rain and Nicholas, who works as an English teacher in Shanghai, ended up slipping and falling over the edge.
After plummeting four storeys, he remained conscious and was rushed to hospital where doctors were shocked that he had not only survived the fall – but had no internal or head injuries.
He didn’t escape unscathed, however, breaking several bones and needing surgery to insert metal rods into his leg, elbow and foot.
A month after his ordeal, Nicholas says he’s lucky to be alive and is currently in physiotherapy to help him walk again.
Nicholas, who is originally from Prestwich, Greater Manchester, said: ‘I went out onto the balcony to smoke after a few drinks. It was raining and I guess I slipped – I just remember waking up on the ground.
‘I had no idea what had happened at first – I had no idea where I was, I thought a natural disaster had occurred. I couldn’t move – when the ambulance arrived I was coming to my senses and realised I had fallen four storeys.
‘The doctors said I must have a guardian angel because I had no head injuries or internal bleeding.’
After realising what had happened, Nicholas said he began to panic and started screaming for help.
A man who saw Nicholas fall said he had hit two air conditioning units on the way down, which probably helped him survive.
He was left with three broken toes on his left foot, a fractured right foot, a fractured left femur, and a fractured right elbow.
His husband, Rahul Malhotra, 37, who had been back in his homeland of India to celebrate Diwali, dropped everything to fly to Cambodia to support Nicholas.
The doctors had told Nicholas his chances of survival with a blood transfusion were 50/50, so he was relieved when husband Rahul came to support him.
While he’s still on a cocktail of strong painkillers, doctors say he is recovering well.
Nick said: ‘Rahul said he’ll never let me travel alone again! When you go through something so traumatic, it does make you wake up and think about how precious your life is.
‘A doctor told me I must have had higher chances of winning the lottery than surviving the fall from the height I did. I consider myself lucky to be alive.’
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