A 28-year-old woman has died after suffering critical injuries in a tandem paragliding accident in Spain’s Canary Islands. The flight experience had reportedly been a Christmas present from her boyfriend.
Emergency services were called to Playa de la Enramada, a beach in Adeje in southwestern Tenerife, at around 5:20 p.m. on Friday, March 6. According to the Canary Islands Government’s Emergency and Security Coordination Center (CECOES) 112, responders received reports that a two-seat paraglider had crashed into rocks near the shoreline.
One of the victims, later identified as Italian national Cristina Colturi, was found in cardiac arrest. Lifeguards managed to restore her pulse before she was taken to a hospital in Santa Cruz with life-threatening injuries. The second person involved, believed to be her paragliding instructor, sustained moderate injuries and was also transported to hospital.
Two days later, on Sunday, March 8, Colturi died from her injuries, according to reports from the Manchester Evening News and Italian outlets Corriere della Sera and La Provincia. Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.
Officials from CECOES 112 declined to provide further details when contacted due to privacy regulations.
Colturi had moved to Tenerife about a year earlier from Castelnuovo Bozzente in Italy’s Como province, where she had been living before relocating to work as a hair colorist in local hotels, according to reports. She had previously tried paragliding years earlier, and the recent flight had been gifted to her by her partner as a Christmas present.
After her death, Colturi’s family honored her wish to become an organ donor and arranged for her burial on the island. Her mother, Angelica Luraschi, remembered her daughter as someone full of positivity.
“Cristina didn’t like sadness,” Luraschi told La Provincia. “She brought happiness wherever she went, and we will remember her with a celebration and her beautiful smile.”
In accordance with her wishes, Colturi’s body will be cremated after her funeral. She had told her mother she wanted her loved ones to celebrate her life and scatter her ashes — something her boyfriend Pedro plans to carry out.
