Facebook Page Saves Leg of British Skydiver
A British skydiver who was seriously injured in Fiji thanks social media for helping him save his leg from amputation. Ben Cornick's leg was injured badly after the accident that doctors considered cutting it off.
Suva Private Hospital doctors told him they didn't have the resources to pin his leg back together and advised going to Auckland, New Zealand to undergo surgery. If Mr Cornick was not transferred at the earliest, he could risk losing the rest of his leg because of infection.
However, Mr Cornick's British cousin Ricky Davies turned to Facebook to raise money to fund his leg-saving surgery in Auckland that costs almost $40,000.Mr Davies set up a Facebook page and spread the word about Mr Cornick's condition.
According to the Daily Mail, Mr Davies, who is also a skydiver, appealed to Facebook friends to raise money for the transfer to Auckland and the operation. Since Mr Cornick's travel insurance did not cover his accidents and he needed to transfer to Auckland for a limb-saving surgery, his cousin together with his friends resorted to raise funds using Facebook. In just 9 hours, total donations had reached $38,000.
Mr Cornick told One News he was glad to be in New Zealand recovering from the operation. Despite not leaving his room in Auckland Hospital, he expressed his gratitude to those who donated money for his operation.
The 31-year-old skydiver from Britain broke his leg in three places when he crash landed after jumping 4,200 near Nadi. Mr Cornick recalled that the skydiving went well at first before the accident. The jump and free-fall were perfect. His parachute was working.
His hand slipped off at the last minute from one of the controls that will help him when landing. He lost control and bumped into a parked van. His accident could have been fatal if he had hit the van's raised boot lid.