Some years ago, a study in Injury, the International Journal Of The Care Of The Injured, looked at two popular parachuting centres in Perthshire over five years.
The authors — orthopaedic surgeons, clearly appalled at the trail of broken-boned sky-divers they saw — analysed the parachuting injuries at Perth Royal Infirmary. They also looked at the amount of money raised for charity and worked out the cost to taxpayers of NHS treatment for these skydiving casualties.
And the results — in their article Parachuting For Charity: Is It Worth The Money?' — were astonishing.
Over the course of the five years, 174 injured parachutists were treated, of which 94 per cent were first-time jumpers. In total, 103 were admitted to hospital.
As a result, the three doctors estimated that one in nine charity sky-divers would be injured. What's more, 7 per cent were 'severely injured' — with common injuries being broken ankles and shin bones.
And the cost of this treatment? On average, the NHS spent £3,751 per patient — and one jumper was so badly hurt they had to spend 43 days in hospital. The average stay for those needing an operation was nine days.
Compare this with the average amount of money for charities raised by each participant: just £30.
So, that means that every pound raised for charity cost taxpayers £13.75 in return.
Such a figure is almost as breathtaking to some of us of as the idea of throwing ourselves out of a plane in the first place.
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