EAST OF PUNTA GORDA — A skydiver believed to be on holiday leave from the U.S. Army crashed into a tree while skydiving near the Shell Creek Airport Saturday afternoon and was flown to a trauma center for treatment, according to a Charlotte County Sheriff’s deputy and other witnesses.

The victim, a certified parachutist, struck the tree at a rural residence near the airport and suffered a broken femur, CCSO Deputy Kenneth Rolland said. Charlotte County Fire/EMS medics responded and summoned a medical helicopter, which landed in a nearby field and evacuated the patient to a hospital, Rolland said.