[sionnsar]

I’m guessing it wasn’t free-fall, but a miracle nonetheless!

[mtbopfuyn]

Were his first words, “What’s for breakfast?”

[rdl6989]

It wasn’t his time to go.

[11th_VA]

Wow - life would suck if this guy’s illegal and get deported ...

[OCC]

Amazing story. He fell almost half the height of the WTC. I understand his brother met a particularly gruesome death when he landed on a fence.

[VOA]

“Alcides Moreno, 37, plummeted almost 500 feet in a Dec. 7 scaffolding
collapse that killed his brother.”

Wow...about ten times the height usually called “the death zone”
(a fall from 50 feet).

Well, at least as they say on CSI on TV...it’s not the fall that kills
you...it’s how you land.
But this guy certainly had some sort of nearly unbelievable luck.
Even if it was all physics.

[Squantos]

Wow....talk about yer dead cat bounce !

[fieldmarshaldj]

Lucky fella.

[Caramelgal]

In those first critical hours, doctors pumped 24 units of donated blood into his body — about twice his entire blood volume.

That’s why I feel all warm and fuzzy inside whenever I donate blood (and no, it’s just not the temporary head giddiness because of blood loss – it’s only a pint – and I don’t even miss it).

Donating blood is relatively painless, is very safe for the donor and doesn’t take much time (I’ve done it during my lunch hour). The most “painful” and time consuming part is filling out the questionnaire.

You just never know whose life you might be helping to save. It could be a victim of a car accident, work accident, a cop or soldier injured in the line of duty, a cancer patient or a small child or infant. It could be your neighbor or friend.

My blood has tested negative for Cytomegalovirus (CMV) meaning my blood is especially useful for newborn infants that need blood transfusions.

With all jokes aside, hospitals and trauma centers are facing serious shortages. If you’ve never donate blood before, give it a try. If you haven’t donated in awhile, it’s time to do so again.

[Libloather]

Bush's fault...

[A. Morgan]

Prayers up!

[lepton]

It is possible that the metal platform offered him some protection, although doctors said they were unsure how.

I suspect that his terminal velocity was rather lower than normal, and that he was more or less riding the scaffolding...and then one end of the scaffolding hit and rotated, thus causing deceleration to happen over a number of feet rather than a simple splat of an inch or so. He even might have had some amazing inclined-plane effect.

[Kevmo]

bmflr

[DugwayDuke]

I’m aware of two more even more miraculous survivals.

The first was in WWII. A tailgunner on a British bomber survived a fall of over 10,000 feet without a chute. This was documented by the Germans who captured him.

In the 1950s or 60s, a Navy pilot ejected over the Pacific. His chute failed to deploy. Not a streamer. Total failure. He survived the fall of over 20,000 feet. Read this in Reader’s Digest.

[SunkenCiv]

victoria lard

Google

[SunkenCiv]

Top this, squeegie boy!

[AU72]

There was a russian fighter pilot who survived at least a 10,000 foot fall when he hit the side of snow covered mountain at a steep angle.