A visitor from Australia lost her bungee cord and plunged 360 feet into waters teeming with crocodiles.
When Erin Langworthy decided to attempt bungee jumping from a bridge that overlooked the Zambezi River, which is notorious for its powerful currents and crocodile population, she was traveling through Zambia in 2012.
When her bungee rope broke in midair, sending her tumbling 360 feet into the raging waves below, what was supposed to be an exhilarating adventure took a horrifying turn.
The moment Langworthy fell into the sea after the cord gave way was captured on camera and posted on social media.
Langworthy struggled to keep afloat as the river swept her downstream, fighting the strong current.
She was remarkably unharmed by the fall and the possible danger of predators.
According to reports, the cord became stuck on rocks and she had to release it while swimming with her feet tied together.
A bungee firm employee was able to pull her out of the water. She was then taken in an ambulance to a hospital in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls.
Even though Langworthy fell at 5:30 p.m., she didn’t get to the hospital until 11:00 p.m., at which point she was put on a ventilator and given medication to keep her from getting sick.
Concerns about the tainted water the young woman had consumed led to medical experts treating her for injuries, including partially compressed lungs, and keeping an eye on her status.
The X-ray results, fortunately, showed that she had no broken bones.
When I started coughing up blood, I started to fear that I might have internal damage. “I was just worn out and had a hard time processing what had happened,” Langworthy remembered in a Guardian interview.
Later, when the bungee business visited the woman in the hospital, they apologized for the tragedy and said they were shocked that she had survived such a risky situation.
Langworthy has now revealed a moving account of a playful occasion just prior to her jump.
The humorous postcard she wrote to her mother said, “I’ll say farewell because I’m undertaking a bungee jump tomorrow. just kidding!
Since then, the postcard has grown to be a cherished memento in her family’s house, but her mother is still insistent that she will never again engage in such activities.
