Ivan Krasouski was flying close to Belarus’ village of Loshany when a strap of his homemade flying machine broke, causing him to lose control and crash.
A sharp log impaled 36-year-old Krasouski as his paraglide crashed. He was cut free from the wreckage then taken to hospital for surgery.
“Many people came. I told them: ‘Take out this splinter.’ And they say: ‘No, are you crazy? If we take it away, you'll bleed to death.’ And I was like: ‘I am Groot!’” he said, referring to Marvel’s tree-like cartoon.
Krasouski made light of his unusual predicament, snapping pictures and sharing them on social media before surgery.
“I'm thinking: ‘I fell so softly, all is okay. I'll stand up and go,’ then something holds me back,” Krasouski said.
“I looked and it was a giant log there. I tore my shirt and there was a branch in my arm, thick as a watermelon.”
