Man survives 15th floor fall in New Zealand

In a miraculous save, a young British man, who was slightly "tipsy", has survived a fall from the 15th floor of a building in New Zealand.

Twenty-year-old Tom Stilwell fell from his neighbours' balcony in his apartment block in Auckland yesterday, while trying to lower himself onto his balcony, which was directly below his neighbours'.

According to his friends, Stilwell had bone fractures and internal injuries, but was "fine" and "a very lucky man".

Stilwell is said to be in New Zealand on a working holiday.

Stilwell found himself locked out of his flat early yesterday, and asked a neighbour if he could climb from her balcony into his flat, his friends said.

The neighbour, Geraldine Bautista, told the New Zealand Herald that Stilwell was "a little tipsy" but polite.

"I wasn't scared of him - he just requested 'Can you please let me jump off from the balcony? I will not bother you, just let me use your balcony,'" said Bautista.
"I never thought he would really do that. In my mind I thought 'Okay, I'll just let you see that it's really impossible. I didn't think he'd jump, because it's really scary," she said.

However, he quickly pulled himself over the balcony railing before she could stop him, Bautista said.

Stilwell's fall was broken by the roof of an adjacent building some 13 floors below.
Tony Smith, a medical director at St John, an emergency health-care organisation, said that a person's chances of survival were increased if they were able to break their fall on something.

Smith, however, said that "survival from falls of that height are extraordinarily unusual".