Despite Injury, Skydiving Santa Switch Saves Quincy's 'Santa Jump'

QUINCY (CBS) -- When strong winds Saturday pushed Santa's parachute away from the landing site in Quincy, he had to make a quick decision: either aim for a small spot between trees, or land in the crowd of 750 kids and parents.

Santa chose the trees, to avoid the kids, and ended up breaking his leg.

"He made the right choice, but a painful one," said Gerry Sprague, one of the jump masters.

It was the 40th anniversary of the Santa Jump, which had never had a problem, until the winds kicked up Saturday.

"They usually land very close to the X, sometimes they will stray a little bit, but this is the first time we have had this type of problem," said Barry Welch of the Quincy Recreation Department.

The Recreation Department had a plan in place and it worked. As Brewster Ambulance personnel loaded the injured Santa into the ambulance, a "backup" Santa jumped into the vehicle, unseen by the throng of kids.

Moments later, Santa jumped out of the ambulance to greet the kids, proving that Santa does indeed have magical powers.