A rugby league team mascot dressed in a rhino suit was lucky he didn’t lose his horned head after a bungled abseiling attempt left him hanging upside down in front of thousands of shocked fans.

The moment Ronnie’s rhino head was almost knocked off

Miraculously Ronnie the Rhino, the beloved mascot of Super League team the Leeds Rhinos, managed to stay in character despite the charity event leaving him grasping for an advertising hoarding with his boots in the air.

And it appears that only 30 seconds before the abseil he was persuaded to use a safety rope, which may have saved him from serious injury.

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The popular character’s failure was seen by cheering spectators as he attempted to drop down from the South Stand at the Headingley Carnegie stadium before the match between Leeds Rhinos and Hull on Friday.

Daring Ronnie had been raising money for Armed Forces Day.

He is seen being lowered down by soldiers but his boot slips and he then spins downwards headfirst. Luckily he was then able to recover and waved to the thousands watching.

After the event he took to Twitter to explain what happened.

‘Haha! Thanks for all your abseil comments! Funny that some of u thought I meant to do it! ‪#NoRonnieFellOver‬ lol! Loved it!’ he wrote.

‘I wasn’t going to have the safety rope, but 30 secs before abseil the boss changed his mind! ‪#LuckyRonnie‬ Thanks to Marines ‪#phew‬

‘I thought the swan dive was a cooler option!’

@Mail Online

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