A Serbian teenager died during a parasailing accident in Montenegro after unbuckling her harness mid-flight after suffering what witnesses say may have been a panic attack.
Tijana Radonjic, 19, fell nearly 50 meters (approximately 164 feet) into the Adriatic Sea while participating in a video shoot in Budva on May 28. Radonjic had no previous experience with parasailing and had been hired to appear in the company’s summer marketing material.
Radonjic, originally from Novi Sad, Serbia, had been selected to appear in a promotional video intended to highlight summer tourism in Montenegro. The plan was reportedly for her to be filmed in a bikini while parasailing along the Budva Riviera, showcasing the experience to attract tourists. She allegedly accepted the offer for a free parasailing flight in exchange for participating in the shoot. Reports say she was approached at the beach and did not have previous parasailing experience.
Footage shows Radonjic initially calm and composed as she was harnessed into the parasail. But once airborne, she began tugging at her life jacket and harness.
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Eyewitnesses heard her scream, “Get me down, get me down,” before she undid her waist belt and harness and fell into the sea below.
Local outlet Republika said others heard her shout ‘help me’.
Despite a rapid response by emergency services, she was declared dead after being retrieved from the water.
“She was cheerful and in a good mood before the flight. She showed no fear of heights or flying,” the owner of the parasailing company told reporters. “We don’t know why she unbuckled her belt and harness and jumped out. I guess she didn’t do it consciously, but in a moment of uncontrollable fear.”
It is possible Radonjic got scared because she thought something was wrong with the equipment and may have been unaware of the height she was flying at.
Radonjic had undergone a basic training session prior to taking to the air and technical inspections of the equipment are underway. Autopsy results are still pending, and Montenegrin police have opened an investigation into the incident.
Radonjic’s family has rejected any implication that she may have deliberately taken her own life. Her parents, Branka and Goran, issued a statement saying: “We will never come to terms with this, nor accept that you are gone. You will remain in our hearts forever…Now you are one of the angels.”
Newsweek has reached out to Radonjic’s family for comment.
One of her friends described her as “full of life, always smiling.”