Why 14 Pensioners Falling Off This Seesaw Is No Laughing Matter

A group of 14 Swiss pensioners who posed for a photograph by balancing on a children’s seesaw have spoken for the first time - and say that the injuries sustained by the group are no laughing matter.

The video, which showed how the group ended up tumbling to the ground on a huge seesaw, went viral across the world after the footage emerged online.

But what the video doesn’t show is that many of the pensioners ended up hospitalised, with injuries ranging from a broken back and broken ribs through to sprained arms and legs.

Josef Schriber, 69, says that he was left with a broken back after the man next to him, aged 80, landed on top of him.

Josef said: ‘The doctors did a great job on fixing me and I’m walking again now although I have a bad back.

‘But I really thought I was going to die at the time. It’s me you can hear screaming on the video. It is lucky we are all in good shape, we regularly play volleyball together. It was supposed to be a four-day hiking holiday but it didn’t work out well even though we all thought it was a good idea at the time.’

He added: ‘I didn’t intend to go so high, but once I was standing on the seesaw people kept saying go higher, go higher, and suddenly I was at the top.’

Mountain rescue services have since confirmed that several ambulances needed to be called to take the injured pensioners to hospital.

In the video, the group of pensioners can be seen attempting to work the seesaw, with one heard to say: ‘Come on, let’s try and see we can make it move. Those at the bottom need to move to the other end.’

But once they manage it, disaster strikes as it moves back the other way - sending the group tumbling to the ground.

The footage was shot in the Swiss tourist resort of Arosa - with local tourism officials confirming that while the seesaw was a popular attraction, it is not advisable to use it in the way seen by the elderly group.