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A motorcyclist in southern California is lucky to be alive today after losing control and flying off the edge of a twisty road in the Santa Monica mountains, falling more than 250 feet—and the whole thing was caught on tape by a camera mounted to his bike, CBS News reports.
In the video, Matthew Murray is riding is Yamaha R1 pretty hard through the mountains in Calabasas, California, accelerating to nearly 70 mph out of a posted 25 mph curve. As he enters the next bend, an uphill left-hand sweeper with no guardrail on the edge, he’s going too fast to hold the line and flies off the road at about 40 mph. He plunges more than 250 feet, and the first-person perspective of the fall is nothing short of terrifying.
“It processed immediately in my head that you’re gonna die,” Murray told CBS News.
As Murray lay seriously injured in the dense brush on the steep slope, he tried to figure out what to do. He could barely walk and was unable to make it further downhill to where his bike had landed to retrieve his phone and call 911. After attempting to yell for help, he started a painful climb back up to the top, where he crawled back up over the edge and flagged down a passing motorist for help.
“They just said people have a fight or flight, or whatever it is, and I just decided to fight,” Murray said. “Honestly my legs were done so I just kind of crawled up and once I made it to the top I just collapsed.”
Murray was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a broken collar bone, broken hip, fractured spine, and collapsed lung. He told CBS News that his bike’s steering locked up, causing him to lose control. To our eyes, though, it looks like a simple case of excessive speed.
Either way, Murray’s paid the price. With months of recovery ahead, he claims his riding days are over for good, according to CBS.
