A Gibraltar man feels like he has 'Won the lottery' after a rock fell from a cliff and smashed through his paddle board, narrowly avoiding his head.

On the East side of the rock near the Gorham’s Cave Complex, on the morning of January 7, Charles Lopez and his friend were enjoying the calm waters on their stand-up paddle boards.

Charles was holding a camera an arm's length away when, without any notice, he captured a sizeable rock plummet towards the water and directly hit the board he was standing on.

The rock missed Charles by the slightest of margins, which could have resulted in a fatal accident, but the only damage was caused to the paddle board, as it broke into two separate pieces due to the velocity the rock was travelling.

His paddle board companion, Alex, was on hand to swim the pair back towards shore and away from any further danger before being picked up by a boat.

Charles said: "I had just reached the last cave of the world heritage site of the Gorhams Cave complex, when a shadow passed my eyes and an almighty explosion coursed under my feet. The shockwave went up my legs and I fell into the sea.

"I was totally oblivious to the impending event, just enjoying what was a warm winters sunrise.

"I’m the luckiest guy alive and glad I’m still breathing."

ENDS