Roof wired off after death drop at skate park
A man spent 90 minutes contemplating skating off a ramp at an Auckland park before making a decision that would kill him.
The 25-year-old was seriously injured after falling from the top of a ramp at Victoria Park Skate Plaza in the city centre on January 27. He died in hospital two days later.
His death has now prompted a redesign of the ramp to prevent it happening again, said Auckland Council said.
Eyewitness Brad Christensen was a frequent user of the park and said he had never seen anyone attempt to ‘‘drop-in’’ from the top of the ramp before the man’s death.
‘‘The day this all unfolded was quite strange.’’
He said another person had attempted to drop-in before the victim but they climbed down after 15 minutes.
Christensen then saw the 25-year-old man climb to the top of the ramp in a bid to try the same thing.
‘‘He couldn’t make up his mind about whether or not he wanted to try and drop-in on the ramp.’’
The man took 90 minutes before he attempted to skate down the ramp, Christensen said.
‘‘I’ve been a skateboarder for 10 years and it was clear to me by watching his attempt that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing, and couldn’t brace himself for the impact. He took the full impact on the back of his head.’’