Diver's head cracks into rocky cliff during backflip attempt

A cliff jump has gone horribly wrong for a daredevil when a backflip attempt put the man in a hospital bed with nearly 50 metal staples holding together his wounds.

Video posted to YouTube on Monday shows the unknown man standing on a rocky cliff next to a waterfall.

He psyches himself up for the plunge with a quick hi-five to a nearby mate holding a camera.

Two other friends have cameras at the ready to capture his moment of glory, but the feat quickly turns into a disaster.

He leaps upward, but not outward, and the backflip causes his head to crack into the stone edge of the cliff face.

Clearly injured, his backflip turns into a flailing drop into the murky brown water below.

The video pans down to the pool of water but he does not surface.

One of the filming friends makes the jump to find the injured man, eventually pulling him from the swampy backwash of the waterfall.

The video cuts to a hospital bed where the ill-fated diver wriggles his toes.

A close up of his skull shows at least 18 metal staples holding together two long gashes.

His arm is in a sling and another shot shows 30 metal staples on a long scar down his back.

An X-ray shows a series of metal pins holding his spine together.