Ivan Krasouski had been flying near the village of Loshany in Belarus when a strap snapped on his paraglider and he lost control, falling into woodland. Shocking pictures show how a tree branch impaled into his shoulder as he crashed. Rescuers were later forced to cut him free from the wreckage of his machine – but could not free him from the giant splinter. Paramedics rushed both Ivan and the giant log – still embedded in his shoulder – to hospital.

Speaking to local news stations, he said: ‘I was flying and crashed onto pine trees. ‘I [remember] thinking: “I fell so softly, all is okay”. But as I went to stand up and go, something held me back. ‘I looked and it was a giant log there. ‘I tore my shirt and there was a branch in my arm, thick as a watermelon.’