They say you should always watch your six, as in be alert and look out for danger behind you. But as one powered paraglider found out, danger can almost smack you right in the face.
A TikToker with nearly 100,000 followers who documents his paramotoring experiences posted a video where he “almost” got “taken out” by a giant pink 6th birthday balloon.
He captioned the video, which has garnered more than 4.5 million views, “Bumped into a birthday balloon as I flew into the Sunset.”
The TikToker was paramotoring across green pastures (it’s unclear where, exactly) when the incident unfolded. You can see in the video that he tries kicking away the balloon before it gets lodged in one of his straps. He then desperately tries reaching for the balloon, to no avail.
@thenullhypothesis Replying to @RichardReigns The odds were what I made them! #Paramotor #ppg #NumberJacks #Flying #birthdayballoons
@thenullhypothesis Bumped into a birthday balloon as I flew into the Sunset… #Paramotor #RealFairy #Paragliding #flying #ppg
The paraglider, at first, feels like he’s not in as much danger as he initially thought because the balloon’s stuck in the straps. Things quickly go south when the balloon starts to dislodge from the straps, prompting fear that the giant balloon will get sucked in by the propellers.
Desperation kicks in, the TikToker says, forcing him to land safely before disaster strikes. He shares in the video that he turned off the motor and glided to safety.
What should have been a relaxing paramotoring experience as the sun set turned into an ordeal he wasn’t counting on.
