A skydiving Santa broke his leg after crashing into a tree and a lamp post before landing in the middle of a volleyball court.

Gerard Krokus was delivering toys to the Beach Bums Operation Santa charity volleyball tournament on Gulfport Beach, near Tampa, Florida on Saturday when he became entangled in a tree.

Video footage showed the experienced skydiver, dressed as Father Christmas, coming down from the sky with a parachute and hurtling into the tree.

He then hit a lamp post and crashed into the middle of a beach volleyball court.

Spectators ran over to the flying Father Christmas, who eventually asked someone to take a picture of him in his costume as he smiled to let everybody know he was ok - despite having broken his leg.


The thrill-seeker was then taken to hospital, where he was whisked into surgery.

Image: The accident happened in Florida. Pic: September Howat

Mr Krokus revealed that as well as delivering toys, he had an Elf on the Shelf to deliver to nine-year-old Madison Spiers.

The elf, named Kristoff, appears on her shelf every festive season to encourage her to be good for Father Christmas.

Madison saw the crash and later found a note from Kristoff which said: "As we were about to land, this big tree jumped right out in front of us!"

She told Bay News 9 that Kristoff is no stranger to adventure, and is currently sporting a bandaged leg while recovering with Mr Krokus.

In the letter, Kristoff added: "Don't worry. Now G and I are resting in this hotel that they keep calling a 'hospital!'"

Friends have set up a fundraiser to help pay for Mr Krokus' medical bills.