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Australian skydiver Miles Cottman hospitalised after horrific crash

Josh Dye

It was 5.30am when Sarah Cottman woke to a text message from one of her son's friends.

"Miles has had an accident," the message read. "Can you please get in contact?"

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Aussie skydiver hospitalised after horrific crash in France

Miles Cottman, a professional skydiver from Sydney's northern beaches, has broken multiple bones after he crashed while speed flying at an estimated 120 km/h.

It was a message that would make any mother immediately fear the worst.

But it rang extra alarm bells for Mrs Cottman because of what her son was doing that day.

Miles Cottman, 27, is a professional skydiver with a passion for an extreme sport called speed flying, a combination of paragliding and snow skiing.

The sport, which involves high speeds and thrilling flights close to the slope, is extremely risky, and crashes can be fatal.

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Mrs Cottman knew Miles was speed flying that day in the French Alps with friends and after frantically trying to reach them, her fears were realised: Miles had been in a horrific accident.

While flying down the side of a mountain in Les Deux Alpes, Miles had clipped a tree and his parachute canopy collapsed, sending him crashing to the ground.

At that point, all she knew was that Miles had a broken back, a broken leg and internal injuries.

Within an hour, Mrs Cottman, who lives on Sydney's northern beaches, had booked a flight to France for that afternoon.

And that's when Miles' older sister, Emily, remembered her mother waking her up.

"She tried to downplay it initially," Emily said. "She said, 'your brother has broken his leg'."

"I said, 'OK, whatever, I'm going back to sleep'."

"Then she's like, 'He's broken his back and going into surgery. I have to go to France'."

Emily said, based on GoPro footage of the incident, they believed he was travelling about 120km/h.

Amazingly, Miles had been able to call his friends despite his injuries. 

Despite internal injuries and multiple shattered bones, adrenaline had kept him in good spirits.

But once the helicopter arrived, his condition deteriorated and he went into shock.

In just over a week since the accident, Miles has had four surgeries:  emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding in his intestines; mesh and three bolts inserted into his broken back; a steel rod inside his right femur; and surgery on his broken left patella and fibula.

Miles also broke his right calcaneus and his left ankle, and injured his spleen, right kidney and coccyx.

To make matters worse he did not have travel insurance, a decision Emily acknowledged was a "massive mistake".

As a dual Australian-British national, Miles believed his British citizenship or his German permanent residency would cover him in an accident.

In the face of Miles' mounting medical bills, his family set up a GoFundMe page seeking support to raise $100,000.

Emily said intensive care costs were €3000 ($4400) a day, while the general ward costs were €1500 a day.

By Monday morning, more than $50,000 had been pledged towards the campaign.

Emily said the family was completely overwhelmed by the support received so far.

"It's really hard for me to talk about," Emily said while choking back tears.

"Mum works for herself, so there's no income for her while she cares for him. Obviously, she won't come back until he does. It's put quite a bit of stress on my family. It's so incredible the amount of support that's been given so quickly."

Miles' immediate prognosis is 45 days' lying down, without moving.

Breathing tubes have been removed, but he's still sleeping most of the day. On Monday morning Miles had his first meals since the accident. 

The longer term outlook is less certain.

Miles was scheduled to represent Australia at Swoop Freestyle, a professional freestyle parachuting competition in Denmark in August.

But Emily said she did not know whether her brother would be able to take to the skies again.

Despite this, the future looks a lot more hopeful than it did in the immediate aftermath.

And incredibly, after fearing he may never walk again, the family is cautiously optimistic about his recovery.

"When Mum arrived they were saying he might not be able to walk again," Emily said. "That was pretty hard to take. He was under sedation, had a breathing machine. From what we thought was going to happen last week to now, with Miles expected to make a full recovery, is pretty amazing."

Emily said despite the stress and uncertainty, the family was feeling blessed.

"We really feel like we've had miracles that he's going to walk and not have brain damage," she said. "We really genuinely feel incredibly lucky; most people don't live through accidents like this."