Bungee Cord Breaks Over Croc-Infested River

Australian tourist falls into African river on New Year's Eve
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 8, 2012 2:59 PM CST

An Australian tourist plummeted 360 feet into crocodile-infested waters in Africa on New Year's Eve when her bungee cord broke, Channel 9 News reports. Plunging into the Zambesi River, which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe, Erin Langworthy, 22, blacked out for a moment before battling roaring water and a maddening bungee cord. "It was quite scary because a couple of times the rope actually got caught on some rocks or debris," she says.

After yanking the cord free, Langworthy swam to the Zimbabwe side of the river and received aid from rescuers. They put her on her back, which stopped her breathing because of all the water she'd inhaled. "So I made them roll me on to my side and that's when I started coughing out water and blood," she says. Langworthy suffered massive bruising and a fractured collar bone in the fall. The $120 jump was organized by Safari Par Excellence, whose website boasts that the leap is "not for the faint hearted," the New York Daily News reports. (For another modern sport that's surprisingly dangerous, check out extreme ironing.)

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