A MAN who went bungee jumping to celebrate his divorce ended up plunging nearly 70ft and breaking his neck when the rope snapped.
Rafael dos Santos Tosta, 22, fractured his neck and spine in the horror fall at the Lagoa Azul in Paraná state, Brazil.
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4The badly injured factory worker is now undergoing intensive therapy following his 20 metre plunge at the beauty spot.
Rafael had gone to the lagoon in a disused quarry on February 11 to do a bridge swing to mark the end of his marriage.
The activity, which is similar to bungee jumping, consists of free-falling before becoming a "human pendulum" as you swing in a huge arc.
Footage shows the shocking moment the rope snapped and he plunged into the lagoon so hard it shattered his neck and lumbar spine.
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After miraculously surviving the horror plunge - albeit with lasting injuries - Rafael told Globo.com: "I have always been a very calm person, but things changed recently.
"After the divorce, I wanted to enjoy life in every way possible. I was doing a lot of crazy things. I was not valuing my life at all."
Rafael had gone with a cousin and a friend to do the dangerous bridge swing ahead of his 22nd birthday - his mother had warned him he was "crazy".
"On the day, I was really happy, excited," he recounted.
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Before his jump, he remembers joking about the rope not being able to take his weight.
His next memory was of waking up in the water with people around him asking him not to move and letting him know that help was on the way.
Rafael was whisked off in a helicopter and with a strange flash of humour remembers how "I kept joking, 'Wow, I can't believe I'm riding a helicopter.'"
My life will never be the same.
Rafael dos Santos Tosta
Although, he said: "I panicked, and I thought, 'What am I doing lying here?' When I tried to stand up, I remember feeling a very strong pain. I've never felt worse pain in my life."
Now, almost three months later, Rafael is still suffering from the after-effects of the fall, despite several physiotherapy and treatment sessions.
Rafael works as a a production operator who does industrial inspection at a factory and he has been off work since the accident.
He still struggles to lift heavy objects, feels pain in some areas, and suffers from weakness.
The psychological trauma has also failed to go away.
"My sleep is not the same. I'm not able to sleep. I had to seek help. I started having crises, nightmares, and I'm afraid to go to sleep.
"We think we are strong, but if you have a specialist or a light, it's much better than trying to get up alone."
Thinking about his fall, he said: "You start to see life and be grateful for everything. It's not that I didn't care before, but I didn't look at it with this perspective.
"My life will never be the same. I don't want to be the Rafael I was before. I have to be thankful for being alive, which is already a very big thing."
Despite his injuries, Rafael said that his love for extreme sports has not gone away, but he wants to save his family from anymore worry.
"I believe that this error is unlikely to happen to anyone else. I'm not the kind of person who refrains from doing things because others tell me not to.
"My mother didn't want me to go jumping, but I went anyway. I wouldn't jump now because of them. If it were up to me, I would already be there."
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Since Rafael's accident, Lagoa Azul (the blue lagoon) remains open to visitors, but no one is allowed to go bridge swinging.
The Civil Police have said that there are no ongoing investigations into the incident.
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