This is the shocking moment a British tourist backflips in the ocean, slams his face into the side of a boat, breaking his nose and jaw.
British butcher Macaulay Burke, 28, had flown to Altinkum, on Turkey’s southwest coast, with nine other people for a week’s holiday at an all-inclusive five-star resort.
After relaxing by the pool, the group booked a beach-hopping boat tour along the Didim coastline.
Macaulay decided to jump from the center deck into the turquoise waters while his family watched from the upper deck.
The gruesome footage shows Macaulay confidently jumping back from the boat, but crashing into the side of the boat on the way down before hitting the water.
The gruesome footage shows Macaulay confidently jumping backwards from the boat, but crashing into the side of the boat on the way down before hitting the water.
Shocking images show the injuries sustained, including a broken nose and a dislocated jaw.
The dazed diver tentatively swam to the boat with the help of another passenger, unaware of the extent of the damage.
Shocking photographs show the injuries sustained, including a broken nose and a dislocated jaw.
Part of the right nostril was also torn off and the lower lip was torn off at the gum line, exposing the jaw bone.
After being rushed to hospital immediately after the July 19 incident, Macaulay underwent a two-hour reconstructive operation to have his face stitched up.
Gym enthusiast Macaulay said doctors noted that if he did not have a “strong” upper body he could have broken his neck and died on impact.
Macaulay, from Warwick, said: “I was excited to go and had been buzzing for months and months before that.”
“It wasn’t a crazy vacation, it was supposed to be relaxing with the family.
‘I did the backflip at the first stop [on the excursion]which was about 25 minutes into the trip.
“We had been playing cartwheels in the pool all vacation and everything was perfectly fine.
“When I did the backflip, I could see the boat.”
He added: ‘As soon as I took off I knew it was going to end badly, there wasn’t much reaction time. The canister hit me square in the face.
‘I’m lucky I didn’t get knocked out. He was in the water and he was very dazed and he knew something bad had happened.
I smashed my face in and instantly broke my nose and ripped my lip off the gum.
I dislocated my jaw and managed to tear my gums so you could see the jaw bone.
Macaulay can be seen in agony after he hits his head on the side of the boat while doing a backflip.
Macaulay showing his wounds. He ripped off part of his right nostril and ripped his lower lip off at the gum line, exposing his jaw bone.
Macaulay being treated at the hospital. Macaulay said doctors noted that if he did not have a ‘strong’ upper body, he could have broken his neck and died on impact.
Another passenger dove into the sea and helped Macaulay to safety.
He was then taken by speedboat back to shore with his 32-year-old brother-in-law Ainsley Carpenter, where an ambulance was waiting to take him to hospital.
Macaulay said: ‘At first I thought I would be fine and stay on the boat.
“I played rugby for years so I have a good pain threshold and have broken my nose several times.
“But when I looked in the mirror, all I could see was blood, I was swallowing a lot of blood.
I knew my nose was broken because it was very wide and I had torn my right nostril.
“He took out my nose piercing and I had a flap of skin in my right nostril that tore and I managed to put a hole in my upper lip.”
Speaking of the two days he spent in hospital, where he received 50 stitches, Macaulay said: “They did a brilliant job in Turkey. My nose hasn’t been this straight since before I played rugby.
‘People go to Türkiye to get a nose job. I had my own but in a very different situation.
He received his fit-to-fly pass and was able to travel back to the UK on 22 July.
Although he is recovering, Macaulay says he has been back and forth to the hospital after returning home to see facial reconstruction specialists.
He also claims that UK doctors told him he was lucky to be alive.
Macaulay said: ‘When I came back they told me I was very lucky.
I go to the gym a lot and work out and they told me that if I didn’t have a strong neck and shoulders, I could have broken my neck and be in a very different position.
A doctor said that I could be dead if I had broken my neck on impact.
“I think if someone was a little smaller or skinnier than me, they might be in a different situation.”
Macaulay with his sister Chelsea on vacation in Türkiye. Macaulay said: “It wasn’t a crazy party vacation, it was meant to be relaxing with the family.”
Macaulay said he is grateful he took out “last minute” £10.80 travel insurance the morning of his flight to Turkey and said he could have received a £50,000 bill.
Now he is urging everyone to take out insurance before going on vacation.
Macaulay said: ‘I’m not entirely sure how much it all cost me.
“I’ve heard a few different amounts, but I mean you can deduct the price for the ambulance ride alone, which was £750.”
‘I had a facial reconstruction that is going to be a lot of money. I estimate it will be over £50,000.
‘You need to get insurance, even if you think you’re not going to get hurt.
“I was on a family holiday and this just goes to show that anything can happen unexpectedly and for £10 it can save your life.
I am very grateful to the surgeons and the insurance company for helping me. It could have been a very different story.
