El Paso man suffers serious crash while flying in a paramotor aircraft

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Anthony Vella has been a flying instructor for six years. He suffered an accident on April 22 while testing a new flying machine near his home in West El Paso.

Vella spent nearly three weeks at several local hospitals undergoing surgeries and recovering from his injuries.

"My passion for flying originally started because my grandfather was a pilot in the army," Vella said.

Vella was in shock when he fell from the sky, he didn't know anything else besides that his right arm was destroyed.

He suffered a broken neck, he also broke his thoracic spine, lumbar spine, tailbone, and pelvis in three different places. Vella also said he bruised his lung and damaged his heart just from the blunt-force trauma.

"I tensed up and I hit the ground and I immediately knew, I said, I'm still here. Like I'm alive," Vella said.

A friend of Vella's set up a GoFundMe page for him while he was still recovering from his surgeries. Vella and his wife never thought of opening one, but at this point, it has been helpful for them due to the cost of medical expenses.

If you would like to help Anthony in his recovery process, you can click here.

Anthony also recorded the sequence when the accident happened, when he was on the ground, and when he fell from the sky.

If you want to see the full video, you can visit his YouTube profile by clicking here.