Hiker lucky to be alive after camera captures terrifying moment of falling down a mountain

CNN —

Dramatic footage has emerged showing the moment a man slipped and fell down a steep mountain while hiking in China’s eastern Anhui province on Monday.

The 42-year-old man, named Yang Meng, was hiking in the Fanzengjian mountains when he slipped and fell, capturing the moment on a 360-degree camera.

The close-up view shows him skidding down a rain-slicked slope before a tree stops his fall and saves his life.

“I realized I couldn’t get up at all and was sliding faster and faster, that’s when it hit me – I must be falling off a cliff,” he told CNN on Friday.

“When I hit the tree, it felt like a heavy rock crashing down. I was just thinking, ‘There’s no way I’m dead.’”

The video, shot and posted on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, has been liked by more than 280,000 users and shared over 445,000 times.

Many users expressed shock, commenting how lucky he is to be alive and showing gratitude that a tree saved his life.

In a later video shared on the platform, Yang said he had not been badly injured in the fall, but sustained some bruising on his left leg.

“I guess I came out mostly unscathed. Just a little scrape on my left hand and a small cut on my thigh. Other than that, I was fine,” he told CNN.

Yang said the incident had caused him to think more deeply about the meaning of life.

“Life is really short, so we need to cherish every day. I won’t let this incident hold me back. If anything, it’s pushing me to explore the world even more,” he said.

Anhui province, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) west of Shanghai, has been pounded by rain in recent days as two powerful typhoons, Bebinca and Yagi, lashed the region.

Chinese state media described Bebinca, which made landfall Monday, as the strongest storm to