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The Inertia

Fa-aack. This is not good for anyone involved. Of course we’re glad that the skydiving student was ultimately saved by the instructor — and there is a sense of comfort in knowing that when shit hit the fan, the people (in this case, person) in charge kept calm — but this is the sort of shock to the system that stays with you. Imagine being involved with this outing; anyone and everyone on that flight, or perhaps on one earlier or later that same day, surely walked away more than a little weak in the knees.

The student, as YouTube user and video uploader Nomadic Adrenaline, describes the traumatizing experience: “Possibly the scariest moment of my life. On the 14th of November 2014 while doing stage five of my Accelerated Free Fall program I have a near death experience. At around 9000ft I have a seizure while attempting a left hand turn. I then spend the next 30 seconds in free fall unconscious. Thankfully my jumpmaster manages to pull my ripcord at around 4000ft. I become conscious at 3000 ft and land safely back to the ground.”

This is exactly like those animated scenarios these kinds of organizations present in training videos, except for a rather big difference: his seizure isn’t staged and nothing here was computer generated — the situation is very real as is the ground they are plummeting towards. The moral of the story? Unless you’re a proven professional, pay attention to your instructors. They know what they’re doing.

Seizure-2

 
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