Man breaks leg after base jumping off apartment roof and crashing into 19 News station ( graphic video)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A man is recovering with a broken leg after a base jumping stunt goes dangerously wrong at 2 a.m. Sunday morning.

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO BELOW.

A witness captured the heart-stopping, dramatic video on camera as a man wearing a parachute slams into the 19 News studios located at Chester and East 12th Street in downtown Cleveland.

Patrick O’Shea witnessed the rescue by Cleveland Firefighters, “I’ve heard of people base jumping sure, but not off of my apartment building. You could tell the man was in pain, he was just sitting there holding on, trying to wait it out because help was on the way.”

Cleveland Fire Lt. Mike Norman said a group of four people were base jumping, which is the act of going off tall buildings or hilltops with a parachute.

The victim whose name is not being released originally told Cleveland Police Officers on the scene that they jumped from a plane, but witnesses say the group jumped from the roof of The Luckman apartment building.

The first three landed safely in the park, according to Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia.

The last one to jump had his parachute get caught in a wind gust on his way down, according to Lt. Norman.

“I’m sure it wasn’t their first time doing it. It just kind of got unfortunate, a little bit unlucky and got stuck,” O’Shea said.

The man had a broken leg and was transported to MetroHealth Hospital, but witnesses say they think he’s lucky because this could have ended far differently.

“Oh absolutely, if that parachute didn’t get stuck on the building he would have just kind of hit the wall and dropped. That wouldn’t have been pretty,” O’Shea said.

Lt. Norman said his parachute ended up landing on top of the 19 News station, which is directly across the street, causing him to dangle about 40 feet in the air.

Cleveland Fire crews were able to use a ladder to untangle him from the parachute.

The man’s identity has not been released.

Detectives plan to investigate to confirm where the group jumped from, and if it was The Luckman, how they gained access to the roof.

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