Written by Euan Stone, Elena Salvoni and Summer Goodkind
02:06 29 January 2024, updated 07:18 29 January 2024
The brother of a British base jumper has revealed the “simple” mistake he made with his parachute that led to him falling to his death from a residential tower in Thailand.
Nathi Odinson, 33, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, illegally climbed to the top of the 29th floor of an apartment block in the coastal resort of Pattaya on Saturday night before accidentally jumping to his death.
Now, his brother Ed Harrison, 39, has said shocking video footage of the daredevil's final moments shows his mini pilot chute was stuck in his belt, meaning there was “no chance” of it being deployed.
Mr Harrison, from St Neots, said that despite his brother's extensive experience – having made “5,000 jumps around the world” – he made the fatal mistake “without realising” and jumped to his death.
Paying tribute, Mr Harrison told The Sun that his brother “will be missed by many… he was fun-loving, cheerful and great with children”. He was a hero to all three of me.
The shocking footage shows Mr Odinson, a self-proclaimed “adrenaline junkie”, counting down “three, two, one, see you” before jumping into the night sky.
He is then sent into a terrifying death spiral as a small parachute flies through the air.
In the final image posted to his Instagram account yesterday, Mr Odinson can be seen leaning forward with his arms pointing behind him as he flies through the air wearing a green helmet.
Wearing minivans for the daring stunt, he skateboards on a dusty floor while suspended under a green canopy.
He captioned the post with a series of hashtags – including “extreme sports”, “adrenaline junkie”, “skydiveuk”, “chinesetiktok” and “thaiskyadventures”.
The same photo, which was also posted to Facebook yesterday, was flooded with followers sending their regards – with dozens posting the word 'RIP' underneath.
Cornish photographer Jordan Colwell said: “Love you forever bro and will miss you so much.” I can not believe that.
In the shocking video, Odinson can be heard landing in a tree before hitting the ground with a sickening thud. The ambulance pronounced him dead at the scene.
Pattaya Tourism Police were alerted to the incident at 7.30pm and rushed to the apartment building in Tambon Na Klua in Bang Lamung district of Chonburi province and found Odinson's body on the floor.
A round blue umbrella was found on his body and was not fully deployed.
“I heard the sound of the tree and thought it was a branch that had fallen to the ground,” said Kanit Chansong, 33, a shocked security guard.
“A woman screamed and I walked over and realized it was a person.” they died. I saw that they jumped from the building.
In the video, Odinson asks the person recording him from the other side of a security wall if his helmet camera has a red light that flashes to indicate it is recording. When he realized he wasn't registered, Nathi removed his helmet and pressed the button before briefly checking his parachute.
His friend, a local Thai national, shouted “Oh shit” when he heard Mr Odinson fall to the ground. Emergency services were called shortly after.
Staff at the Lumpini Ville Naklua apartment checked CCTV and saw that Mr Odinson and his friend had parked their car outside and then waited for some time when the situation was quiet before sneaking into the building.
They then headed to the roof of the building, where Mr. Odison climbed a small concrete wall on the roof of the building to reach the ledge.
The security guard said he had jumped from the building several times before, posing a danger to pedestrians walking below.
He added: “They were making video content for social media. They had done it before and they knew it was not allowed.
Police and paramedics arrived at the scene shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time. However, Mr Odinson could not be saved.
Police Lieutenant Kamolporn Nadi, deputy inspector of investigations at Bang Lamung District Police Station, said there were no initial indications that Odinson had been attacked.
The policeman said: The parachute that the deceased used to jump broke down and was not in the middle as expected. It was in terrible condition when we arrived.
The friend who recorded the video of him jumping was questioned and the video was examined as evidence.
“Forensic officers are investigating the case further. They are examining the parachute.”
Mr. Odinson was a regular daredevil who performed skydives and base jumps around the world. He ran a “sky photography” business and took clients on private skydiving trips.
Police informed the British Embassy in Bangkok, which is contacting Mr Odinson's relatives in the UK.
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