German model falls 800 metres in Iceland photoshoot

German model Angelika Allman says that she will never be the same following a serious accident during a photoshoot in Iceland for German print magazine Fit for Fun. Almann is demanding €75,000 in compensation from the publishers,  Burda.

The accident occurred on April 3rd 2014 in the hills of Ólafs­fjarðar­múli in the north of Iceland. Allman says that the group had strayed a few hundred meters off the route suggested to the organisers of the shoot by an Icelandic mountain guide.

„The area was very steep, I took one wrong step and I slipped about 800 meters.  It was horrible because I was fully conscious the entire time. On the other hand I was really lucky not to lose consciousness as I was able to stop myself a few meters before a cliff drop into the fjord,“ Allman explains.

Allman was rushed into eight hours of surgery. She suffered broken bones, torn muscles and a severed nerve. She spent a week in a hospital in Reykjavík and was then flown back to her hometown of Munich, Germany in an executive jet. She says she will never forget the care she received from Icelandic nurses.

„I received very good, super warm and friendly care in the hospital.

Especially from the nurses who gave my husband and I such good care with all their hearts,“ Allman says. „We even made friends with my main nurse during that time and still keep in contact. I will come back and visit her one day.“

More surgery to come

Allman says the last 15 months have been very tough as she is a passionate mountain runner and was used to exercising every day.

„It was like a horrible prison, not being able to move any part of my body. I was stationary in hospitals and rehab for six months. I had to fight really hard to get back on my feet.“

She says she still has to do electrotherapy, physiotherapy or rehabilitation every day. Her right knee still needs more surgery and the nerve responsible for lifting her foot doesn‘t work at all.

„I think I became much more aware of the beauty of the moment and the small things that count. And I am so thankful to have the best friends and family supporting me,“ Allman says of the lesson she takes away from this experience.

Asked if she will ever regain the same strength she had before the accident Allman replies with a poignant, no. „I will never be the same.

Not physically and not mentally. “