NEW ZEALAND – Anna Cochrane dislocated a rib while hanging from a hot air balloon over the skies of Ashburton, but that did not stop her from smashing a world record.

The Wellington-based ambulance officer set a new world record on Sunday for the highest static trapeze act while suspended from a balloon, with a performance lasting more than five minutes at an altitude of between 3100 and 3500 metres. The previous record was just over 660m.

Cochrane was about 30 seconds into the routine on Sunday morning when she heard the ribs on her left side make “a couple of pops”. “I’m a paramedic, so I assessed myself while hanging upside down. I thought, there’s definitely something wrong…[+]