US window cleaner beats six-floor tumble

An American window cleaner who fell from the outside of a building six floors up has survived the "surreal" tumble with minor injuries.

Alex Clay, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, said he was forced to hold on with bare hands after colleagues had trouble connecting his harness.

But as they tried to repair the line Mr Clay said he became overcome with tiredness and was forced to let go. A safety line failed, but his fall was broken before he hit the pavement. An overhanging roof on the first floor broke his fall, and he hit the cement roof before he bounced onto the pavement.



"It doesn't make much sense, but it was very slow - it was very very dream like. It all just felt very surreal. It was very, very dream-like."

Almost unbelievably, Mr Clay's only injuries are a shattered bone in his left foot and a cut on his leg. The 21-year-old window cleaner had only been in the job for four months before the accident.

But despite his relative health, his prospects for a swift return to window cleaning appear bleak, he says: his mother is unlikely to let him go back to his high flying job.

With audio interview with Mr Clay.