This is the moment a shocked group of beachgoers peers over a nearly 100-foot-tall cliff at a teenager who drove directly off the edge on his quad bike and survived.
The unnamed 19-year-old man drove off the edge of the 30-metre- (98-foot-) tall Chapadao cliffs at the popular coastal resort of Praia de Pipa in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte at around 4pm on Monday, 15th November.
The young man, from the city of Fortaleza in the neighbouring state of Ceara, fractured his femur and his spine but is in a stable condition, according to the State Health Department.
Despite the severity of his injuries, the man was conscious when the emergency services got to him on the beach.
He was initially treated at the municipal health facility before being transferred to the Hospital Walfredo Gurgel in the Rio Grande do Norte state capital Natal, where he underwent surgery, according to news portal G1.
Liliane Gomes de Lima, a nurse technician who tended to the teen, said he told her he had lost control of the quad bike and drove off the cliff.
Rosemberg Ferreira, a social worker who was on duty at the health facility while the man was being treated, said: “It was a miracle he survived. The fall was about 30 metres.”
The Chapadao cliffs attract tourists from all over Brazil and the injured man was part of a quad bike tour group, according to G1.
The accident happened around one year after a cliff collapsed on a nearby beach and killed a young family of two parents, their seven-month-old baby and their pet dog.
The sudden collapse gave the family no time to flee with the woman grabbing and wrapping her body around her young son just before they were all buried by the rubble.
The tragic accident took place in the early afternoon of 17th November 2020 and killed Hugo Mendes Pereira, 33, Stela Silva de Souza, 32, and their son Sol de Souza Pereira.
Local residents often have to warn tourists about the risk of rockfalls, as the waves erode the cliff bases when the tide comes in, making them vulnerable to collapse.
No further updates were given on the young man’s current health status.