A Knysna paraglider pilot Rose Greyling Bilbrough is recovering in hospital after she sustained back and neck injuries during a crash at Buffalo Bay yesterday.

Bilbrough was paragliding at Buffalo Bay’s main beach, approximately 20km from Knysna, yesterday afternoon. “It was a great day, the weather conditions were perfect for paragliding,” she says.

It was, however, during a routine manoeuvre that she sustained an equipment malfunction. According to Bilbrough, the wind had started picking up and she attempted to carry out a ‘wing over’ manoeuvre.

“The wind then pushed me back into the dune,” she explains. Bilbrough then collided with the dune, but her harness was able break a lot of the impact.

National Sea Rescue Institute Knysna were first to respond to the scene, along with fellow paragliders. She was then airlifted from the dune to the beach where she received medical attention before being transported to hospital.

During the crash Bilbrough sustained injuries to her neck and back, and will be grounded for the foreseeable future.

She is recovering well in hospital, and is set to be sent home in the coming days.

Bilbrough is well-known within the Garden Route paragliding community, and has received an outpouring of support on social media.