Nov 5, 2006, 7:50 AM
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Jumping Tandem with a "repaired" broken neck
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Hey guys,
I am looking for info on anyone that has jumped a tandem passenger that has previously had a broken neck. I have been asked by a girl that broke C7 in a car accident. The repairs went well and she is healthy and fixed, but would love to do a skydive. She has voiced concerns on the jerk of the opening and possible injuries that can incur from that and a hard landing.
I know we normally use a soft neck brace for older (85-95 year old) people that we have jumped.
I am looking for constructive input to take back to her for her to make the decision.
Nov 5, 2006, 10:36 PM
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Re: [Beverly] Jumping Tandem with a "repaired" broken neck
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I have jumped with a few tandem students who had suffered spinal injuries many years ago. They were fully healed, so it was low risk. Tell your student to wait until her doctor tells her that she has healed well enough for full-contact sports.
Nov 6, 2006, 8:20 AM
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Re: [Beverly] Jumping Tandem with a "repaired" broken neck
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Well, I had a fusion of my C6 and C7 a little over 5 months ago. so, I've done a lot of research on the issue. There are plenty of skydivers that had fusions, I believe Dan BC is one of them. The person's Dr. is the only one that can say for sure she is okay to jump, but typically the layoff for active regular skydivers is 6 to 12 months. If it has been longer than that she may be fine.
Nov 6, 2006, 5:35 PM
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Re: [Fledgling] Jumping Tandem with a "repaired" broken neck
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Some people will hold their passengers head against their shoulder on opening to prevent any sort of shock.
I do that on occasion when a student's health/fitness requires extra consideration. I would definitely do so for anyone with a prior significant neck injury (and only jump with one who had gotten a green light from their doctor).
Nov 8, 2006, 4:13 PM
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Re: [Beverly] Jumping Tandem with a "repaired" broken neck
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We took a student while at SkyDance last year, the TM insisted on a soft collar for the student during the dive to help keep the neck stable, just incase of a harder than usual opening.
They also made sure the conditions were good for a soft landing, but the student was a small light guy so it made it easy for the TM to get a good landing our of it.
On the video the TM is seen holding the students head back during deployment to help lower the whip lash risk of a harder opening.
My brother who has a fused C4 & 5 has been advised by his GP not to jump, but he being in the medical field (nurse) thinks he would be OK with a soft collar and a good TM.
Like with everything there is risk involved, and she will be at a higher risk than most students, this is a risk she needs to understand fully, a temninal reserve ride could very straining on her neck, and these are things to take into consideration, but as I know all the TM's at the DZ your jump at, i would suspect she would be fine if she went ...
In my opinion I would get Dawie to do the jump, as he's good on landings and is flying the Sigma main
There are plenty of skydivers that had fusions, I believe Dan BC is one of them. The person's Dr. is the only one that can say for sure she is okay to jump, but typically the layoff for active regular skydivers is 6 to 12 months. If it has been longer than that she may be fine. 
