A window cleaner who fell five storeys from a Wellington high-rise building yesterday is to be discharged from hospital this morning as two investigations into the incident begin.
The man escaped with just a dislocated toe and was reportedly "chatting and joking" in his Wellington Hospital bed soon after he fell from the Mayfair House building on The Terrace about midday.
A Wellington hospital spokesman told NZPA the man was going to be discharged from hospital this morning.
His boss, Mike Roche, co-owner and director of Window Cleaning and Contractors, said a car had partially broken his fall with his leg hitting the car's bumper as he came down.
Wellington Free Ambulance team manager Kate Worthington said that hitting the car probably saved his life.
She said she had seen people die in falls from shorter distances.
After the fall paramedics cut the man free from his abseiling harness and put him in a stretcher to reduce the risk of spinal injury.
The Department of Labour is investigating what caused the incident and Mr Roche said his company had also launched its own investigation.
The incident comes after the department launched an investigation last year following claims there were unsafe abseil anchors on some Wellington buildings.
The anchors are used for wires holding the platforms of window cleaners and other workers.
