YouTuber breaks neck & back in devastating paraglider crash while vlogging

YouTuber Anthony Vella has uploaded footage of a horrific crash in a motorized paraglider that ‘almost ended his life’.

Anthony Vella is a motorized paraglider or ‘paramotor’ enthusiast and YouTuber. His channel focuses on his hobby and includes reviews, how-to guides, and footage of his flights.

Despite deep knowledge of the hobby and associated machinery, Vella’s most recent upload documents his own terrifying crash. The 33-year-old YouTuber was testing a BGD Luna 3 over the Enchanted Rock State Park in Texas.

Vella’s video begins with an intro from his hospital bed after three days of treatment for a fractured neck, back, and pelvis and a shattered right arm. Both Dexerto and the YouTuber advise that the footage could be considered distressing.

tIn the video, Vella was traveling 48 mph when the parachute mechanism on his glider collapsed causing him to plummet between 85 – 100 feet to the ground. The paramotor enthusiast had the wherewithal to call 911 using the Siri function on his iPhone immediately after crashing down.

Lying on the ground in agony, two onlookers rushed to assist and made a second 911 call. In the interim, Vella contacted his wife to explain the situation. “The glider collapsed and my arm is snapped,” he explained to her. “I’m going to be fine, my love, don’t worry.”

The good samaritans who were assisting Vella were able to flag down the emergency services and let his wife know where they were. The paramedics began treating Vella on the scene and were astounded at his condition.

“Considering you fell out of the sky, you’re doing pretty good,” one of the emergency workers said. Vella’s wife arrived on the scene and assisted the paramedics with information before he was finally taken to hospital.

Vella explained from his hospital bed that the cause of the crash was an unseen tension knot in his glider that resulted in a parachute collapse while breaking. He did not blame the BGD Luna 3 and advised fellow paramotor enthusiasts to “triple-check” their equipment before flying.

Vella promised he would be documenting his rehabilitation process and had no plans to stop paragliding or paramotoring in the future. “Anthony is very excited to get back to his strong and active self,” his wife noted in the video description.