The survival of a man who leaped from the Brooklyn Bridge, identified as Galymzhan Abaildayev, may have been due to the precise position of his body when he landed in the East River. Dr. David S. Shapiro, a trauma surgeon with over 30 years of experience, said that jumping or falling from extreme heights, like a 270-foot bridge tower, is overwhelmingly fatal and generates extreme kinetic energy that can cause life-threatening trauma. He suggested that the bag Abaildaayev was carrying could have provided a "makeshift parachute" that reduced his descent speed enough to save his life before he crashed into the water. Shapiro also suggested that an object such as a rock could have fallen just ahead of Abaaelev, causing slightly softening the surface of the water, reducing the impact on his body.