Dancer’s horror fall during drunken ‘Dirty Dancing’ lift
A video showing the moment a dancer crashes to the ground when the move she’s performing goes horribly wrong is proving too much for some.
A professional dancer was almost killed when she drunkenly attempted the iconic Dirty Dancing lift and crash-landed on her neck.
Millie Slennett, 25, and sister 19-year-old Rosie Slennett were competing to see who could pull off the iconic move better at their parents’ Sydney home on Christmas Day went things went horribly wrong.
After her sister’s “terrible” attempt, Rosie – a professional dancer – thought she had nailed it, until she tipped over boyfriend Conner Justin’s shoulders, falling on her neck as her face bent awkwardly into the grass.
Family rushed the South Narrabeen woman to hospital where doctors discovered she miraculously escaped without any major injuries.
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“It all just went so quickly. When we were at the top, it felt like we were holding it for hours. I had my feet pointed, legs stretched. I thought we’d nailed it,” Ms Slennett told The Sun.
“I kept trying to lift my legs higher and then they got above my head.
“It went from fine to not fine within like 0.3 seconds. I didn’t have time to realise I was falling until I hit the floor.”
Millie said it felt like she “had broken all the ribs down my left side” and breathing also hurt immediately after the fall – but thankfully she managed to stand up.
“The first thing I did when I realised someone was filming was ask to see the footage to see if we nailed the lift, and when I saw it I said, ‘Yes, we got to the top of it,’” she said.
“But 10 or 15 minutes after, the pain wasn’t getting better so we called an ambulance, and at the hospital I could hear all the doctors walking around asking each other if they’d seen the video.”
Doctors who viewed the footage said she was “lucky to be alive”, stressing her injuries could have been a lot worse.
“I could have snapped my neck or done damage to my spine. I could have died,” she said.
“I didn’t have my professional cap on. We’d had a few drinks. But I think having some in my system perhaps helped my fall because I was a little bit more relaxed.”
Rosie’s footage shows Millie take a run-up before leaping into the arms of nervous 186cm Conner, 26, who lifts the outstretched dancer into the air.
The pair, who often practise Millie’s choreography ideas at home, look to have pulled off the feat until she lifts her legs too high, tipping her over Conner’s shoulders.
Within a second she dangerously lands on her neck just before the rest of her body crashes down on top of her, seemingly folding her back in two.
She says she was in lots of pain over Boxing Day and was called back to hospital for a CT scan the next day where it was confirmed she’d escaped any damage other than bruising.
Millie later posted the unbelievable video to Instagram where hundreds of users have been left baffled by how she escaped landing so awkwardly from the 260cm high fall without serious injury.
“#dirtydancingfail Had to call an ambulance, spent 5hrs in ED with a neck brace, had a CT and got away with just some bad bruising,” she explained in the caption.
Friends quickly flooded the post with messages of concern, saying she was “very lucky to not break anything”.
“Omfg. Are you OK! OMG I CAN’T WATCH,” one said.
“Oh my god Millie! Hope you’re alright [sic],” another wrote.
The lift is famed for its use during the (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life number in the classic 1987 film Dirty Dancing starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
Continue the conversation @RebekahScanlan | rebekah.scanlan@news.com.au
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