British man recovering after balcony plunge

Tom Stilwell, 20, from Brighton, fell while trying to balcony-hop from the flat above after finding himself locked out of his 14th-floor Auckland apartment in the early hours of Sunday after a night out with friends.

He is awake and talking in the city’s hospital after suffering broken bones, grazes and internal injuries, according to reports.

It is believed he fell 13 storeys from the building before landing on the roof of a lower adjacent building two floors from the concrete road below, which may have saved his life. Mr Stilwell fell after waking the woman living above him, Geraldine Bautista, and asking if he could climb from her balcony to his, one storey below, it was reported.

She took him outside, thinking he would change his mind 
once he saw that it was impossible, but he grabbed the railing instead.

“He never said anything... I grabbed his hand and then at that time... he fell down. I thought I was dreaming. It happened so fast,” she said.

Auckland City Hospital confirmed Mr Stilwell was in a stable condition.