WATCH: Newport family welcomes paraglider back to earth after nearly six hours in the sky
A mother and son had an unexpected visitor drop by as a paraglider landed behind their home after nearly six hours in the skies.
Kate Greenway and her son Albie, aged nine, met paraglider Hugh Miller by chance on Monday as he ended up descending into the field behind their Newport home after taking part in a national competition.
Kate and Albie, who is a keen adventurer himself having ventured out across the country, were immediately intrigued and filmed the spectacle before going to check if Hugh needed any help.
It turned out that Hugh, from Brighton, was part of a competition called the North South Paragliding Cup where two teams of paragliders battle it out to reach the furthest distance and be crowned the winning 'realm'.
On Monday, Hugh had started at the Brecon Beacons and travelled more than 120km in the sky before landing in Newport, where Kate and Albie then offered their assistance.
Kate explained: "I had picked my son up from a tutor appointment he had been to on Monday and saw a man paragliding just behind our house. He kept descending into the field behind our house and so I snapped a quick video as I thought it's something you don't see everyday.
"It didn't seem like he meant to land where he did, so we wanted to go over and check he was ok. I told Hugh I was intrigued about the whole process and he said it wasn't entirely planned that he would land there, he came down quicker than he expected.
"Hugh told me they normally look to land near a train station if they can and part of the fun is landing and then trying to get back to where they started. For Hugh he needed to get back to Abergavenny.
"My husband took him to the train station after my son had asked Hugh so many questions, and he even gave him a quick demo. Albie has not stopped talking about it since.
"Albie was just in awe of everything – he couldn't believe Hugh flew most of the journey at 4,000 feet, he was mesmerised by it all."
Kate said she couldn't believe the chance meeting turned out so well, and that Albie has been inspired by Hugh to consider starting paragliding.
She added: "Hugh had come from the Brecon Beacons and glided for around five and a half hours before landing behind my house. My son was fascinated because he didn't realise they could fly for that long.
"I rang up someone from the competition to try and get back in touch with Hugh after he left and someone said Hugh is one of the top paragliders in the country and actually flew the longest distance on the day."
