SHANGHAI, May 21 -- An 18-year girl's life-and-death experience had a happy ending because of an umbrella she was holding when she was blown off the roof of a six-story building in a storm.

The umbrella allowed her to land relatively softly on the ground and saved her life.

Zhang Haijing, a school student from Jingning County in neighboring Zhejiang Province, was caught in the rain on her way home in the evening of May 15. She intended to wash her soaked clothes in a laundry located at the top of her six-story building, Today Morning Express reported today.

To get to the laundry, she had to walk along a slippery pathway on the roof and as she walked in the rain she was holding a raised umbrella in her hand.

A strong gust of wind caught Zhang and sent her over the edge of the building but she managed to hold onto the umbrella as she fell, the report said.

The umbrella reduced the speed of her falling and she landed in a deeply soaked garden around her building, which was being used to grow vegetables.

She was unconscious when found and was admitted to hospital badly injured.

Doctors found her chest vertebra fractured and she had a peritoneum haematoma. They said it was a miracle she had survived after falling from such a height.

A doctor surnamed Mei attributed her falling off the building to the umbrella she was hading as well as slippery pathway. Dr Mei urged people not to hold umbrellas when walking in high places because it was easy to be blown away by strong winds.

Zhang is now in a stable condition after having several operations and care in hospital. Her family said they want her to continue her studies after recovery but because they had to use all their savings to pay for her expensive medical expenses they cannot afford to pay for her tuition. They said they hoped people would donate money for Zhang's studies.