Queensland dad Brenton Owens lucky to be alive after Rainbow Beach paragliding crash

A young father is lucky to be alive after a freak paragliding accident north of the Sunshine Coast which left him with horrific injuries.

Brenton and Charlotte.

A young father is lucky to be alive after a freak paragliding accident north of the Sunshine Coast left him with horrific injuries.

Brenton Owens was paragliding at Rainbow Beach on Friday afternoon when his glider failed, causing him to fall 10m on to sand.

Mr Owens, an experienced paraglider, was coming in to land about 5.30pm when his wing collapsed after hitting turbulence, forcing him to fall close to a cliff edge.

His partner, Charlotte Smith, said she was trying to get a hold of Mr Owens when his friend called her with the news of the accident.

Brenton Owens suffered horrific injuries in a paragliding accident at Rainbow Beach on Friday.

“At first I thought Brenton had lost his phone, but I heard Corey’s voice and knew something had happened,” Ms Smith said.

“He said there’s been an accident, but he was okay.”

Mr Owens was rushed to Sunshine Coast University Hospital with serious injuries.

He had fractured all the ribs and clavicle on the right side of his body, punctured a lung, and fractured his pelvis and spine.

But his condition deteriorated on Saturday.

“At first he thought it might have been the painkillers and asked to turn it down,” Ms Smith said.

“He started looking really grey and clammy and saying he didn’t feel well.”

Doctors discovered an arterial bleed in his lung which needed urgent surgery.

Mr Owens had lost five litres of blood into his lungs and abdomen.

He was sedated and put on a ventilator, but has since woken up and is on his journey to recovery.

An avid adventurer, Mr Owens is a lover of surfing, rock climbing, hiking, kite surfing and paragliding.

Brenton, Charlotte and Koa.

Brenton with his little boy, Koa.

He and his family, including baby Koa, had recently taken some time off and gone sailing along the east coast of Australia before the accident.

He will be unable to work for a lengthy period of time and is expected to be in hospital for up to six weeks.

“He’s doing really well now, as well as he can be, pushing himself and standing up,” Ms Smith said.

Close friends set up a Go Fund Me fundraiser for Mr Owens and his family to help ease the financial burden.

Donate to the fundraiser here.