Dr Richard Henriksen fell off the edge of 3,000ft high cliff head first when the high bar he was using collapsed. Luckily the father of five was quick enough to deploy his parachute which helped him to avoid a serious injury or possibly even death. 

Richard Henriksen was trying to make his jump while swinging from a high bar placed alongside a cliff, but the bar broke as he tried to add an acrobatic twist to a BASE-jumping attempt. He was thrown off a cliff when the bar snapped as he twirled, the New York Daily News reported.

The stunt was being filmed for "Normal Madness," a Norwegian TV show, and host Are Sende Osen admitted he thought Henriksen was a goner, according to NineMSN.com.

Miraculously, Henriksen survived the fall, opening his chute in the nick of time. However, he narrowly missed hitting his head on the side of the cliff and the bar he was swinging on almost fell on him as well, RightThisMinute.com reported.

Despite his close shave, Henriksen didn't recognize the gravity of his almost-grave situation until he watched the video of his fall with his five children.

"I sat with the two youngest children, reading and singing to them. Then it dawned on me that my children could have been without a dad," Henriksen said, according to Orange.co.uk.