How Bear Grylls Survived the Parachute Accident That Left Him With a Broken Back
"My back landed right on the reserve chute... Then everything went a little black."
Published May 6 2026, 3:04 p.m. ET
Survivalist Bear Grylls has faced more than a few scary ordeals in real life. Bear trained in martial arts from a young age before joining the British Special Forces, and his survival skills later helped turn him into a television star. Man vs. Wild ran for seven seasons, and helped launch several other adventure shows.
Bear has also written more than 100 books and sold more than 20 million copies, according to his website.
The British adventurer, author, and former soldier became famous for shows like Man vs. Wild and Running Wild with Bear Grylls. However, Bear’s parachute accident remains one of the most talked-about moments of his life.
What caused Bear Grylls’ parachute accident?
According to his site, Bear served with 21 SAS Regiment, broke his back in a freefall parachuting accident in Africa, then later climbed Mount Everest at age 23.
The accident happened in 1996, when Bear was 21. According to NDTV, he was skydiving in Zambia when his parachute failed to inflate, causing him to land on his back. The crash fractured three vertebrae and forced him into a year of rehabilitation.
Bear later described the crash in an interview with Men’s Health.
“I went on a routine jump in Zimbabwe while I was on leave. We were about 14,000 feet in the air,” Bear recalled. “The canopy of my chute didn’t open properly, and I started coming down. Fast. Before I knew it: boom. My back landed right on the reserve chute, which is tightly packed like a bar across the middle of my back. Then everything went a little black. Later, I remember arriving at a hospital where a doctor stuck this giant needle straight into my back.”
In 2021, Bear addressed the long-term pain from the accident on Instagram and revealed that he still struggles with it daily.
“People sometimes ask me if my back ever hurts having broken it all those years ago in a parachuting accident. The answer is every day,” he wrote. “And the treatment I get for it can be quite intense.”
However, Bear has not slowed down. A new season of Running Wild with Bear Grylls debuted on April 21, 2026.
The series follows Bear and celebrity guests during 48-hour wilderness adventures that include brutal terrain, glacier crossings, and an 11,000-foot freefall.
Bear Grylls is no stranger to life-threatening incidents.
The parachute crash was not the only serious accident Bear has faced.
In 2008, he broke his shoulder during an Antarctica expedition after falling while traveling on kite-skis, according to The Guardian. The expedition paused while rescuers worked to reach him in the remote area, and he was recovered quickly.
A spokesperson later said, “He is in a lot of pain but he is serene and calm.”
He also had a scary allergic reaction in 2019 while filming Treasure Island. According to Fox News, a bee sting sent Bear into anaphylactic shock, and medics treated him with an EpiPen. Brain surgeon and contestant Mano Shanmuganathan later described the scary moment.
"The irony of Bear the survivalist being stung, having the potential of an allergic reaction, and needing to be treated with an EpiPen, was a bizarre moment,” Mano said. “That was crazy!"