Man survives roof plunge
8:10pm Wednesday 21st May 2008
A MAN has been taken to hospital after throwing himself off the roof of a three-storey building.
Police officers were called to Swanstead in Vange at about 6pm today.
Shocked onlookers told how police and paramedics treated the man as he lay crumpled on the ground.
One witness, a woman in her 30s, who did not want to be named, said: "He somehow got up on the roof. He jumped and landed flat on the ground.
"He had a massive gash on his head. He was conscious when the paramedics were seeing to him."
Jodie Watts, 22, a trained first-aider said: "I came around the corner and saw a man lying on the ground.
"I don't know how he was talking. I asked his name and he said it but was a bit confused.
"There was a lot of blood from a wound above his eye. I think he had broken his left elbow and he was in quite a bit of pain.
"The paramedics arrived and I held his head still while the paramedics put a neck collar on."
The man, believed to be in his late 20s, was put on a spinal board and taken to Basildon Hospital.