'I'm OK, but get a rope': What British tourist, 41, told his girlfriend by phone after base jumping accident left him dangling from cliff. Three hours later he fell 230ft to his death

Jake Simkins w as on holiday with seven-months pregnant girlfriend

Greek emergency services were unable to rescue the north Londoner

He was an experienced base-jumper who had completed more than 40 solo jumps

A British tourist spent three hours trapped on a cliff calmly chatting to his girlfriend on the phone before a gust of wind blew him 230ft to his death.

Jake Simkins’ parachute became tangled on the cliff face while he was base-jumping on a Greek island.



The 41-year-old called his girlfriend, who is almost seven months pregnant, at a nearby hotel to raise the alarm.



Terror: Jake Simkins is stuck up the cliff 180ft off the ground. He clung on desperately for three hours before falling to his death Massive cliff: The scene of the tragedy on the Greek island of Zante. Rescuers could not reach Mr Simkins But Greek emergency services were unable to rescue the London Underground worker, who fell to Navagio beach on Zante after a gust of wind dragged his parachute off the cliff face.

As he dangled hundreds of feet above the rocks on the island – also known as Zakynthos – Mr Simkins made calls from his mobile to reassure partner Anita that he was not badly hurt after hitting the cliff and had only injured his leg. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Teenager dies after taking £10 'legal high' Benzo Fury at... Farmer killed in traffic accident... and sister dies six... Share this article Share A Greek worker who was alongside Anita contacted the emergency services, but fire crews failed to reach Mr Simkins.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said: ‘He was speaking to her constantly and letting her know he was okay.

‘He was calm, and they were even joking. Jake asked for the emergency services to throw him a rope, so he could climb down.

‘Surely three hours was enough time for the fire service to find a rope and get it to him?’

Demanding answers: Julia Simkins says her son (pictured) could have been saved if response teams had sent a helicopter to rescue him Failure: Greek emergency services were unable to rescue the London Underground worker, who fell onto Navagio beach on Zante after a gust of wind dragged his parachute off the cliff. Pictured is another base jumper in action

Antonis Potamitis, who runs tour boats to the bay and had collected Mr Simkins following other jumps, said he had repeatedly called the fire service and begged them to bring a specialist climbing team from Athens.



He added: ‘It was a terrible tragedy. Jake was a really good man, and knew what he was doing, but somehow ended up on the rocks.



‘I asked the local fire chief to call for specialist back up, but he wouldn’t listen.



‘And even though three hours passed and he was hanging 70 metres above the rocks, they didn’t even get a rope down. How is that possible?’



Mr Simkins was pronounced dead after his fall on Friday evening. His partner was taken to hospital suffering from shock, although she was discharged on Sunday and his since flown back to Britain.



The pair were hoping to get married following the birth of their child.



A local on the island said: ‘She was in complete shock. She could hardly speak for the first day. But then it is to be expected. She came on holiday with her partner, and she left without him.’



Mr Simkins’ partner was too upset to speak yesterday when she answered the door of his family home in north London.



Friends said Mr Simkins, who worked as a signal technician for London Underground, was an experienced base-jumper who had undertaken more than 40 solo jumps.



He had also parachuted down to Navagio beach – known as ‘shipwreck bay – on three occasions before his fatal fall.



Accident: Mr Simkins was stuck for three hours as emergency services tried to rescue him from these cliff faces at Navagio beach after he base jumped with a parachute

Base-jumping is an extreme sport in which participants leap from a fixed point before using a parachute at the last minute to break their fall.

The word ‘base’ is an acronym of the four points from which they can leap: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs).



Before his trip to Greece, Mr Simkins posted a message on Facebook, writing: ‘Can’t wait. June can’t come quick enough!’



A Dutch tourist who witnessed the accident said the parachute seemed stuck on the rocks.



Corne van der Eerden said: ‘We heard a flapping sound and saw what we thought was a guy sky-diving or parachuting. He crashed into the wall.



‘I shouted out to him and he said he thought he had broken his leg.



‘He said he had his mobile phone on him and was going to call his wife. I told him to be careful but he said he was going to hang on tight.’

