Red Lion parachutist will not need surgery, full recovery expected: Ng Eng Hen

Get well soon!

Ashley Tan | August 10, 2022, 08:27 PM

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One piece of news from the eventful National Day Parade on Tuesday (Aug. 9) was a particularly hard landing by a Red Lions parachutist at The Float @ Marina Bay.

3WO Jeffrey Heng's tumultuous descent was captured on livestream, and he was later seen being attended to by medics and carried away on a stretcher.

Second update

Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen provided an update around an hour after the incident at 7:10pm, stating that Heng was alert and conscious, and in a stable condition.

On Aug. 10 at around 7pm, Ng gave a second update, which was accompanied by a photo of Heng smiling from his hospital bed.

The minister shared that the Chief of Defence Force and Chief of Army had visited the parachutist.

Heng suffered "some injuries", but fortunately, will not require surgery. He did not elaborate on the specifics of Heng's injuries.

Ng shared that in time, with some rehabilitation, Heng is expected to make a full recovery.

Strong winds at The Float

The Singapore Army posted a similar update not long after Ng, explaining that parachutists at The Float can sometimes experience strong crosswinds, gusty currents and disruptive airflow.

Heng had, in fact, applied his training and adopted the Parachute Landing Fall on Aug. 9, which helped to reduce the severity of his injuries.

The Parachute Landing Fall is a safety technique that distributes the landing shock across different parts of the body, allowing the parachutist to land with minimal injuries.

Here's a graphic of what it looks like when executed correctly.

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Top photo from Ng Eng Hen / FB and NDPeeps' YouTube livestream