A fundraising page has been set up to help a stricken Wishaw man who had a miracle escape after falling down a 60ft waterfall.
Father-of-one Gerry McLelland slipped on rocks at the Grey Mare’s Tail, neat Moffat, on January 14.
The 39-year-old plunged down a waterfall - but, using cold water therapy breathing techniques, he managed to survive and managed cover his head during the fall.
He sustained a fractured back and shattered his leg and ankle, but was lucky to survive.
The fundraising GoFundMe page has been set up by Gerry’s friend William Ralston.
William wrote: “In a freak accident Gerry managed to slip into fast flowing water and dragged down steam, falling over a waterfall.
"He sustained a fractured back and had surgery on a shattered ankle.
“Gerry’s a proud man and when he’s back on his feet will probably kill me for doing this.
“Gerry is an ambassador for raising awareness for mental health and has completed marathons all over the world all out of his own pocket. He has climbed Kilimanjaro and cycled through Palestine raising money for charity.
"I’m just trying to show him a bit of charity back.”
Gerry, who works as a maintenance engineer, is recovering at his parents’ house and his daughter Erin Doyle, 20, is his main carer.
He expects it to be six months before he can work again.
Speaking to our sister website, Glasgow Live, he said: “The night before there was quite a lot of rain, the water was really really powerful.
“It was nice to sit and look at and do some meditating. I didn’t think there was any danger.
“On the way back down at the top of the stream I slipped into the burn. It was that powerful, it took me into the water. I’m 14.5 stone and it was taking me away really quick.
“The water was submerging me, I have been thinking about that every day. I was calm about it when I was in the water.
“I knew the drop was coming so I covered my head, and hit every rock on the way down. The lucky thing is my head avoided major trauma.
“My fear since being a kid is drowning. The power of the water was pushing me under.
“I couldn’t get my head above the water. I was thinking ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die’. I had to accept this was my time, I stopped fighting and let myself go.
“That saved me because the current pushed me away from the waterfall, it gave me a split second to grab something.
“The noise was overwhelming but it was followed by complete silence.
"I thought ‘this must be me dying’. When I dropped from the waterfall I realised I was still awake.
"If I didn’t pull myself out there, there was another 60ft drop.
“I don’t know if I would have been lucky enough to survive.”
You can donate to the fundraising page by clicking here.
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