A skydiver in Virginia, in the U.S., miraculously survived after her parachute got tangled around her leg and she smashed into the ground at 200 kph.?
Jordan Hatmaker, 35, can count herself lucky to be alive after the incident, which left her with a broken back, leg and ankle.?
During her 13,500-foot descent over Suffolk, Virginia in November last year,?Hatmaker ended up in a rarely survivable scenario known as a 'downplane', where both parachutes fail, SWNS reported.?
After her legs became entangled in the ropes of her primary parachute, she set to releasing her reserve, which unfortunately catapulted both out in opposite directions, 'leaving her hurtling toward the earth in a terrifying spin.'??
Hatmaker Smashed into the ground 20 seconds after pulling her release cord, breaking her back, leg and ankle.
Remarkably, she remained?conscious throughout the whole ordeal and screamed out for help, terrified she was paralysed.?
"Everything happened really quickly. I didn't have any thoughts because I was spiralling so I didn't know what was going on, I was just in strategy mode, Hatmaker told SWNS.?
She hit the ground on her left leg and bounced forward to land on her back. She was taken to the hospital where she spent 25 days recovering from the horrific fall.??
The road to recovery wasn't as easy as it would take her three months to walk again. The incident hasn't put her off and she even hopes to skydive again one day.
"I don't think that you should give up things that you love just because an obstacle was put in your way, life is too short and you should do what makes you happy.?I really hope to send a message of trying to find the silver lining in whatever situation you're in.?You never know how strong you are until you have to be, don't underestimate yourself," she told the outlet.?
Hatmaker's first thrust with skydiving was in 2015, which is when she fell in love with it.?"I loved the challenge and conquering my fears and it really instilled confidence in me.?I thought I could do anything," she said.?
Between that year and 2020, she completed a total of five tandem jumps before she decided to train for her skydiving licence so she could jump solo.?It was during this training on November 2021 that disaster struck. She tried to get in two jumps so that she was well on her way to getting her licence before the winter made practising more difficult.
Her first jump over Suffolk, Virginia, went smoothly, but when she leapt out of the Skyvan plane for the second time that day, it all went awry.?It left her in the hospital?with a broken back, leg and ankle. But after learning to walk again,?Hatmaker is hoping to have another adrenaline-filled adventure?in her life.
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