Brussels father and daughter seriously injured in French parasailing accident

A Brussels

Place

Brussels

Home city of the injured father and daughter.

Why it matters

Home city of the injured father and daughter.

About

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the Flemish Region, and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.

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Updated 26 August 2026, 12:00 CEST.

Emergency workers treated the pair at the scene and transferred them to La Timone hospital in Marseille, according to La Dépêche du Midi. The newspaper reported on 7 August that both remained in hospital, but no newer authoritative public update on their condition was located by Belgium Pulse.

The daughter sustained several vertebral fractures, other injuries and a significant head haematoma, her mother Jessica Hoffmann said in a social-media update cited by BRUZZ and La Dépêche du Midi. La Dépêche reported that her spinal cord and nerves were not damaged and that she would wear a brace during her recovery.

Her father underwent surgery after suffering fractures to both wrists, an arm, a femur and a kneecap, according to the same family account as reported by La Dépêche. Hoffmann said the operation went well and that he had tried to shield their daughter during the accident. These medical details come from the family rather than a hospital statement.

Reports differ slightly on whether the tow line broke or the parasailing equipment otherwise detached from the boat. VRT NWS described a broken rope, while BRUZZ and La Dépêche said the parasail or its cables came loose. None of the reviewed reports established why the connection failed.

The family appealed for witnesses to provide photographs, videos or testimony that could help reconstruct the accident, according to BRUZZ. La Dépêche reported that an investigation had opened into the circumstances and that the family was awaiting information about a possible return to Belgium.

The immediate Belgian impact is concentrated on the Brussels family and those supporting their recovery. The next substantive developments will be any verified medical update, a decision on repatriation and findings establishing whether equipment, operating procedures, weather or another factor caused the detachment. No official conclusion has been published in the sources reviewed.