Not likely but paired with human stupidity it could happen.

First of all let me tell you I am still alive, just somewhat in pain.

Here's the story.

Summer. Very hot here in central Italy. You look for shadow and what better than a couple of majestic century old mediterranean pines with their high branches some 60 feet above you. I decide my 8 year old could try the Mobula so after some instructions which boils down to "move the sticks very gently, especially the throttle" and "above all if you feel you're out of control hit that disarm switch!". Set it into horizon mode for him and there he goes. Hovers gently but the Mobula rises a tad too much, start telling him to decrease the throttle but the whoop rises gently but resolutely start imagining he's about to kill the arm but he doesn't so the Mobula hits the branches up above without me intervening. First idiocy. The whoop gets tangled in the branches and stope there. OMG! The little one poor kid scuttles away feeling ashamed. I stare in disbelief at the damn thing sticking up not even really visible. Turn off the radio and the whoop starts beeping up in the tree giving me a better idea. The branches are way too high to imagine throwing stuff at them and the trunk is so masssive that you'd need a caterpillar to shake the trunk.

So here kick in the stupidity, bordering on madness. I see a tall ladder nearby and think "Maybe I could rest it against the trunk and use that very long aluminium pole to try and whack the branch" and I do. When I'm almost at the top of the 10 foot ladder and start raising the pole, the ladder slips off the trunk and I describe a quarter of a circle fall down to the ground. Maybe my distant karate training helped me a bit to rotate the body but fell very hard on my left shoulder. The pain was intense and I thought I might pass out. Nobody in sight to assist me. Managed to breathe normally and after some time managed to shout for some help. Family met the whole scene with disbelief. How could this usually sensible person have done something so obviously stupid?

Wife asked "where's the radio"? and with that simple question some sense crept back under my skull. I turned on the radio, the bloody beeping stopped, armed the whoop, gave it a good throttle and bank joly and there it came down .... DOH

Some lessons learned:

If you have a beginner flying don't rely on his reflexes, stay close and intervene yourself.

Above all, don't endanger your or someone else health to get your drone back.

Luckily no dislocations, nor fractures, only unable to sleep on the left side.

Happy summer flying people.

Safety101: Always use the right tool for the job; never compromise and use a tool not adequate.
Safety102: If not competent, do not perform the task at hand; Seek a professional.

I’ve worked 16 years in and out of the oil refineries and safety is priority #1.

On another note, I have used the roof to my golf cart to reach a tree limb to get my drone down. It wasn’t the safest approach, but I certainly make sure I am balanced and there is no way I can get injured.

All-in-all, we can make bad decisions out of our cirumstances, don’t feel alone. Use every good and bad moment to pray for better wisdom. And also we can use these instances to learn from experience.

Thank you Luis.

As an ex competitive pilot and an ex surgeon I am very much safety minded and usually tend to foresee all potential dangers but at the same time what happened is a testimony about even the most alert of os can sometimes have lapses in judgement and a demonstration that even experience is not a guarantee