Orthopedic Doc / Experienced w/ Skydiving Injuries

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Hi, I'm an attorney in Portland, Oregon, and I'm helping a U.S. veteran with his disability claim. My veteran was a very active skydiver with the Army demonstration team in the 70's, and he currently has back problems. I'd like to find a doctor who's familiar with the magnitude & effects of opening shocks, landing and so on, to help me understand & explain the injuries to the VA. I'm doing this work pro bono, but I can offer a small payment if necessary.

Is anybody here a doctor, or does anybody's doctor view skydiving as less reckless than, say, motorcycling (which is my self-destructive behavior!)

Thanks!

[JerryBaumchen 1,055]

Hi space,

I'm in Beaverton.

I have a very good friend who ( many, many years ago was on the 7th Army Team ) injured his knee while jumping. Very soon after he got out ( one hitch only ) he was referred to an Ortho down at U of O ( which may now be OHSU ). The doc took one look at it and set him up for a small disability; I think he still gets checks to this day.

I thought there was a 1-yr time frame to make a claim for a Service Connected Disability; but then, I have been out for a couple of lifetimes.

Just my thoughts & good luck,

JerryBaumchen

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Hi Jerry.

Thanks for the pointer...do you think you could get the doc's name to me somehow?

(I've got the 1-year thing sorted out... It's a bit more complicated than that, but that was the initial thing I had to take care of. Now I just need to provide some info to suggest that the equipment & conditions back in the day were capable of / likely to cause chronic injury, not just acute injury. Sort of like machine gunners and certain other jobs, I think -- the VA just assumes they have hearing loss, because it's so common and not worth it for them to fight every claim.)

[DigitalDave 0]

This should be good.

[JerryBaumchen 1,055]

HI space,

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do you think you could get the doc's name to me somehow?

Uh, it was 39 years ago.

But here is some info on the guy who is/was getting the checks;

Ray Lowe lives in Astoria and he can be contacted at:

ray.lowe(at)gmail(dot)com

Give it a go & see what happens,

JerryBaumchen

PS) My son is an attorney is H'boro.

[ridestrong 1]

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Hi, I'm an attorney in Portland, Oregon, and I'm helping a U.S. veteran with his disability claim. My veteran was a very active skydiver with the Army demonstration team in the 70's, and he currently has back problems. I'd like to find a doctor who's familiar with the magnitude & effects of opening shocks, landing and so on, to help me understand & explain the injuries to the VA. I'm doing this work pro bono, but I can offer a small payment if necessary.

Is anybody here a doctor, or does anybody's doctor view skydiving as less reckless than, say, motorcycling (which is my self-destructive behavior!)

Thanks!

There is a large factor that may be over looked here. Yes the shock of deceleration while coming under canopy can affect the spine, but more importantly is the age and natural degenerative process of that individual. Unless he suffered an acute injury during skydiving there is no way to directly attribute his current (and likely chronic) symptoms to skydiving. He may have a more rapid degenerative or arthritic process that would have led him to his current condition regardless of skydiving.

I can guarantee you that an MRI of is lumbar spine will demonstrate degenerative/arthritic signs, natural with aging. Making it very difficult for you to support his claim.

I am a skydiver and spine surgeon. I cannot help you build your case but I'm sure you can find a surgeon that can/will.

*I am not afraid of dying... I am afraid of missing life.*
----Disclaimer: I don't know shit about skydiving.----

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Unless he suffered an acute injury during skydiving there is no way to directly attribute his current (and likely chronic) symptoms to skydiving.

Thanks very much for this response! My guy's skydiving career was ended by a landing that damaged one of his knees, and he had a few other lower-extremity injuries documented during his service. I'm hoping to track down a doctor in South Carolina with experience in this type of injury, who can support an etiology with analysis of the stresses involved.

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I am a skydiver and spine surgeon. I cannot help you build your case but I'm sure you can find a surgeon that can/will.

I'm well aware that you can find some doctor to say anything you want, but I'm not that kind of lawyer. I'm just trying to obtain a more detailed analysis than the first VA doctor provided ("pt never complained during service, so he must not have had any injury.") (My apologies if you were not implying that my client or I are trying to cheat the system by hiring a "plaintiff's doctor." The VA, by statute, employs a fairly liberal standard of proof, so it's not like I have to find a ringer doctor to establish that skydiving caused my client's back problems "beyond a reasonable doubt.")

Thanks again.