Danger warning following cliff-fall
A TOP doctor has warned revellers in Newquay against excess boozing after shocking CCTV footage emerged of a drunken lad plunging 15 feet onto concrete.
The Cornish Guardian reported last Friday that the 23-year-old had been "lucky to survive" the fall outside Chy Bar on Beach Road on June 26.
But this week police released a horrifying video clip of the man who appears to slither head-first over safety railings before landing awkwardly on his neck.
Amazingly, he escaped with just a broken wrist.
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We showed the footage to Dr Rob Taylor, A&E consultant at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.
He said: "Incidents like this could quite easily cause damage to the brain, spinal fractures, injuries to internal organs, or death. Even non-life-threatening injuries such as broken limbs can still have a major impact on everyday life.
"Those planning on getting drunk should consider the consequences not only to themselves but also their families and local communities."
Inspector Ian Drummond-Smith, of Newquay police, said the man had no memory of the incident and had agreed to the release of the footage as a warning to others.
He said: "Behaviour like this is not unique to Newquay, and across the UK people take dangerous risks. I hope this footage will make people stop and think before they put themselves in unnecessary danger."
Ironically, it is possible that the man avoided serious injury because he was so drunk.
Medical research online suggests that people who hit the ground in a limp, relaxed state are far less likely to be badly hurt in a fall.
Dr Richard Snyder, of Arizona, USA, said tests showed that people who are drunk "appear to have a disproportionate survival rate among free-falls of extreme distances" because they were "abnormally relaxed".
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