PICTURED: Mother-of-three fighting for life after severing her spinal cord and smashing her skull after being flung from a flying fox into a tree in front of her horrified family Claire Willmott fighting for her life after a freak zip line accident at Belrose The 37-year-old was riding the flying fox during a family gathering on Sunday As she rode the line, the braking system failed and hurled her from seat into tree Emergency services treated her for a severed spine and badly wounded head By Aidan Wondracz and Claudia Poposki For Daily Mail Australia Published: 00:22 BST, 22 May 2019 | Updated: 00:22 BST, 22 May 2019 Viewcomments A mother-of-three continues to fight for her life after she severed her spinal cord and smashed her skull in a freak zip line accident. Claire Willmott, 37, was riding the 40 metre-long cable during a family gathering at a home on Morgan Road at Belrose, in Sydney's northern beaches on Sunday. The pharmaceutical senior executive was one of more than 20 people who had gathered at the property, with several children taking turns on the ride in the lead-up to the accident, Daily Telegraph reported. The cable had been strung up between two trees in the backyard and sat about 2.5m above the ground. Claire Willmott, 37 (left), was riding the 40 metre-long cable during a family gathering at a home on Morgan Road at Belrose, in Sydney's northern beaches on Sunday More than 20 people had gathered at the property, with several children taking turns on the ride in the lead-up to the accident (pictured, Ms Willmott with her family) A brake had been fitted to the ride with a plastic block installed as a fail safe to stop the rider at a safe 8m distance from the tree. Though a NSW police spokesperson said that when Ms Willmott took her turn, the fail safe didn't seem to slow her down. 'When the pulley came to an abrupt stop, the motion carried by the woman has caused the seat to swing forwards and upwards to the point that the woman completed a half back-flip as she was ejected from the seat.' Ms Willmott was hurled into a tree trunk where she severed her spine and smashed her skull. Six ambulances and a helicopter were called to the scene to treat the badly injured woman. Emergency services found her unconscious with blood coming from a gash on the back of her head. She was treated at the scene before she was transported to Royal North Shore Hospital. She has since been placed into the intensive care unit after undergoing surgery. A brake had been fitted to the ride with a plastic block installed as a fail safe to stop the rider at a safe 8m distance from the tree (stock image) She was treated at the scene before she was transported to Royal North Shore Hospital (pictured) Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility