Anchor
4th August 2011, 23:25
http://www.smh.com.au/world/i-thought-i-was-dead-skydiver-survives-1000m-plunge-20110804-1idlj.html
'I thought I was dead': skydiver survives 1000m plunge
August 5, 2011 - 8:03AM
A Scottish skydiver plunged one kilometre after both her parachutes failed - and survived with just a broken ankle.
Zoe Sievwright, 29, who was taking part in a solo jump in Perthshire, central Scotland on Saturday in memory of a brain tumour victim, said she was in a "complete panic" when she realised she was falling to her death, Scotland's Daily Record reported.
"You go into an arch and I started counting - 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 - and then I checked my canopy," Ms Sievwright said as she described what went through her head after she jumped out of a plane and headed towards the dropzone at Strathallan airfield in Perthshire.
"We were told that if it was big and rectangular that was fine, but the canopy was all tangled.
"I had to cut away and then I pulled my reserve parachute. When I looked back up, I could see the reserve parachute had got tangled up in the main one."
Panicking, Ms Sievwright said she searched for toggles to pull, but realised there weren't any.
As she spun, and then fell towards earth, she thought: "That was it."
"I didn’t think I was going to make it - I thought I was dead," she told the Record.
"I braced for impact and I don’t really remember what happened after that. There was a bit of shock but I didn’t black out.
"I was just lying on the ground and I kind of nudged myself into the recovery position and waited. I didn't know whether something was broken but I could feel my arms and I could wiggle my toes and thought my back was OK."
I think we will see more and more of this kind of thing...
'I thought I was dead': skydiver survives 1000m plunge
August 5, 2011 - 8:03AM
A Scottish skydiver plunged one kilometre after both her parachutes failed - and survived with just a broken ankle.
Zoe Sievwright, 29, who was taking part in a solo jump in Perthshire, central Scotland on Saturday in memory of a brain tumour victim, said she was in a "complete panic" when she realised she was falling to her death, Scotland's Daily Record reported.
"You go into an arch and I started counting - 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 - and then I checked my canopy," Ms Sievwright said as she described what went through her head after she jumped out of a plane and headed towards the dropzone at Strathallan airfield in Perthshire.
"We were told that if it was big and rectangular that was fine, but the canopy was all tangled.
"I had to cut away and then I pulled my reserve parachute. When I looked back up, I could see the reserve parachute had got tangled up in the main one."
Panicking, Ms Sievwright said she searched for toggles to pull, but realised there weren't any.
As she spun, and then fell towards earth, she thought: "That was it."
"I didn’t think I was going to make it - I thought I was dead," she told the Record.
"I braced for impact and I don’t really remember what happened after that. There was a bit of shock but I didn’t black out.
"I was just lying on the ground and I kind of nudged myself into the recovery position and waited. I didn't know whether something was broken but I could feel my arms and I could wiggle my toes and thought my back was OK."
I think we will see more and more of this kind of thing...