Skydiver rescue – in pictures

Thursday 20th August 2009, 1:00PM BST.

Emergency services reach the stricken Paul Lewis on the warehouse roof. Pictures: West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust

These pictures capture the moment emergency services reached skydiver Paul Lewis after his crash landing on to a warehouse roof in North Shropshire.

The 40-year-old freelance cameraman was filming a first-time parachutist in a 10,000ft tandem jump on Saturday when his parachute malfunctioned at 1,000ft.

He landed on the roof of a grain storage hangar at Higher Heath, near Prees, about half a mile from The Parachute Centre at Tilstock.

Emergency services used a crane to reach Mr Lewis, of Shrewsbury. He was carefully placed on to a specialist stretcher which protected his injured back and neck.

He was then placed onto the aerial ladder platform which brought him to the ground in an operation taking almost two hours.

He was then taken to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

Colin Fitzmaurice, from The Parachute Centre, said: “Paul is doing fine, he is well on the way to recovery. He has been moved to a general ward now from the critical care unit.”

The pictures – released by the Midlands Air Ambulance – show Mr Lewis still on the warehouse roof as ambulance staff and firefighters use an aerial ladder platform to access him.

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