Video Captures Man's 17th-Floor Balcony Fall

A man has fallen from the 17th-floor balcony of an apartment block in Chile - and survived.

His dramatic tumble from the building in the central city of Rancagua was captured on CCTV.

Sebastian Reyes plummeted 131ft (40 metres) on to the canvas roof of a parking shelter and fell through to the ground.

The 23-year-old was taken to hospital where he was found to have fractures of the pelvis and thigh.

His condition was critical but he was released shortly after and has been talking about his amazing escape.

Reyes, who is now using a wheelchair to get around, told local media he felt no pain.

"I felt the fall, but nothing else, and I didn't wake up. I woke up in the hospital," he said.

Reyes fell from the balcony at around 8.30am after a night partying with friends.

It started at the Torres de Alameda building complex where they watched Chile play Bolivia in the Copa America football tournament.

"After that we went to the club and after I came here (to the apartment) ... around six-thirty or seven."

They carried on partying and after receiving complaints about the noise they moved to the balcony, where Reyes lost his balance.

The friend at whose apartment the fall happened recalled witnessing the incident.

"When he fell, he called for us, and when we went to see where he went, he fell through (the parking shelter)," Esteban Faundez said.

When asked in a TV interview how he managed to survive, Reyes showed a tattoo on his arm with the inscription: "God, don't abandon me."