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A German woman and a Chinese man who were on a paragliding practice flight in Australia were sucked into a storm and soared higher than Everest, the world's highest peak. The man died, but the woman miraculously survived.

They were caught up in a violent storm and were sucked into the void while on a practice flight with 200 other athletes on the 14th ahead of the World Paragliding Championships to be held in Manila, northern New South Wales next week.

The 42-year-old Chinese man's body was found on the 15th, the month after his disappearance, but the German woman Eva Wisnierska (35) was unconscious for 40 minutes, barely escaped lightning while climbing to an altitude of 30,000 feet (about 9,000 m) at minus 40 degrees Celsius, and returned covered in ice while being showered with hail up to 15 centimeters in diameter.

Eva, who is resting in a local hotel room with a bruised and frostbitten body, held a press conference on the 16th and told about her ordeal, which is being talked about as "the luckiest woman in the world."

She said she was flying high above the rugged countryside on a paraglider when a storm suddenly struck and there was no way to escape. “I was just praying that I could get out of the clouds,” she said.

As she continued to rise into the atmosphere, reaching a point nearly 1,000 feet (300 m) higher than Mount Everest, she watched ice freeze over her sunglasses and instruments before losing consciousness at about 20,000 feet (6,000 m).

When Eva woke up almost 40 minutes later, she found herself still trapped in a dark storm.

“My body and everything was shaking, but I thought I had to fly straight and get out of these clouds. I thought I needed to get down just to get warm.”
Although dizzy and confused due to lack of oxygen, she eventually made it out of the storm clouds and then became preoccupied with landing on the ground.

There were no roads or other structures in sight, but when a small farm finally came into view, I flew towards it and landed very safely. It was 60km away from the launch site. According to its own tracking system, she ascended at 20 meters per second and descended at 33 meters per second.

After waiting alone for several minutes without even thinking about calling for help, her paragliding team radioed in and was able to locate her. She was still covered in ice when she was found. He was taken to the hospital, received treatment and was discharged.

Godfrey Wennis, the organizer of the championships to be held on the 24th, said her return was "like winning the Lotto 10 times in a row, so it is no exaggeration to say that she is the luckiest woman in the world right now."

Chinese athlete He Zongpin was found 75km away from the rash site, and is presumed to have suffocated or frozen to death after being sucked into the storm. Eva, who has 10 years of experience, said that, based on her experience, there was no chance of survival in this accident, but the doctor told her that her loss of consciousness saved her life. Because he lost consciousness, his heart slowed down all functions, saving his life.

She suffered frostbite on both ears and legs, but hopes to compete in the championships. “Flying is too fantastic to have to stop because of an accident,” he said.



Source - Australian Online News (http://www.hojuonline.net/)