On Monday, an incident at Stuhleck ski resort in Semmering, Austria left a woman severely injured. A Hungarian woman (29-years old) and her husband (39-years old) both fell from a chairlift after they had raised the safety bar upon exiting the terminal. The man fell into some protective netting below the terminal, but the woman missed the safety netting and fell seven meters onto a car driving up the road to the resort.
The car which broke this woman’s fall had a completely shattered windscreen and a fairly dented roof after the incident. The woman was taken to a hospital and is being treated in an Intensive Care Unit for multiple bone fractures. Fortunately, she was wearing a helmet at the time or else she may have experienced more severe injuries.
“Imagine a child fell out of the lift, or that the woman had landed on a pedestrian, or directly onto the street! Someone could have died – and I could have died too.”
–Driver of the damaged vehicle
An Austrian man and regular to the resort was driving the vehicle which broke the Hungarian woman’s fall. He told the local newspaper that it was an incredibly loud crash with glass shattering throughout the car and cutting his hands, leaving the man a bit shaken up. He also believes that the protective netting should extend over the road to prevent just such an incident. However, if the car had not been there at that exact moment the several meter fall straight to pavement would have been much worse for the woman.
