A NOVICE paraglider who lost his leg when he slammed into cliffs at a popular launch site is suing a northern beaches council and the sport’s governing body for more than $2 million, saying they failed to warn him the site was dangerous. 
 
Former Nova 96.9 weekend breakfast presenter Mathew McHugh, 33, had his left leg amputated below the knee after he hit a rock face at “free-fall” speed while paragliding at Cook Terrace, Mona Vale Headland last year.



Mr McHugh was not insured, had only 30 hours’ flying experience and had never flown at Cook Terrace when he crashed into the rock face. He fractured his spine in four places, shattered his pelvis, broke his right ankle and foot, and waited two hours for a rescue team to untangle him from a tree branch. He lost so much blood doctors thought he would die.

“I still remember feeling my bones crunch,” he said.

Mr McHugh claims the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia website should have classed the headland as a site for intermediate and advanced paragliders and warned that novices should not try to fly there. He also claimed Pittwater Council should have placed a sign at the site warning of past paragliding ­accidents.

Insurers for the council and the federation both plan to strongly defend the claim.

The HGFA has hit back by launching its own investigation, claiming Mr McHugh was flying “illegally” because he was not being supervised by a senior safety officer or a duty pilot.

Mr McHugh disputes this, claiming there was a licensed pilot at Cook Terrace that afternoon but he said he was not being directly supervised.

His lawyer John Kambas said they were not denying paragliding was “dangerous”.

“What we are saying is that if he had a warning sign, if the website said this is an intermediate site — not a novice site — he would not have gone,” Mr Kambas said.

Mr McHugh has put a brave face on his recovery, even creating a Facebook Page called Sydney’s Happiest Amputee, which shows pictures of him with a party hat on his stump and a letter box stuck to his hospital bed.

But Mr Kambas said that in reality the crash had been devastating.

“Although he seems to be a happy-go-lucky person, he is suffering from anxiety and depression,” Mr Kambas said.

The money would go towards Mr McHugh’s care costs, future prosthetics, his loss of future earnings (he is now on the Disability Support Pension) and general ­damages.

Mr McHugh does not regret taking up paragliding. “But I do wish I had not jumped that day, I wish I had been too busy, I wish I had a sign or a gut feeling that something was wrong.”

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/paraglider-mathew-mchugh-sues-for-2-mi...

does anyone think all the WARNINGS would have stopped him anyway????????...

this makes me laugh....we have some kind of madness now where we do what we like...and then blame someone else when it all goes wrong...

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jul 15^th, 2015 at 9:07am:

http://www.awesomeinventions.com/sarcastic-warning-sign/


have a laugh at these ap...

cods wrote on Jul 15^th, 2015 at 9:04am:


Yes that's the plight afflicting the younger generations starting with those born in the late 70's/80's .... right where this bloke fits.

Most people don't throw themselves off cliffs unless they're going to commit suicide ......

having a parachute or a hang glider only slightly mitigates a huge risk of injury or death.

That's why as a sport or hobby this bloke & other enthusiasts would not get accident/injury insurance.

So he takes the other option no doubt with the advice of a shyster solicitor to sue the Council for negligence.

He should be thanking his lucky stars he's alive to tell the tale of his stupidity.

He can always audition for Pirate roles in movies.

You aren't covered by insurance for such dangerous sports as sky-diving etc....

Warning signs on every cliff?

Obviously an IQ test is required for licencing....




Kind of like -

"Do not attempt to stop turning propellors by hand!"...

"Do Not Test Jet Engine Temperature At Rear Of Aircraft!"

didnt they try putting signs up at the "Gap"..telling people they will automatically die if they jump off....

so if someone survived they could sue for wrong information..