First jump. First metal.

[opurt 0]

So I finally did it. Made that first jump. A tandem. A couple of years after I first contemplated going skydiving, I finally did it.

For 2 summers, I casually thought about it, but it was a scary proposition. So excuses always won out. Finally, a few weeks ago, the summer was coming to an end, the weather was good, so I finally committed to doing that first jump. Making the phone call to place the reservation was the most difficult part of the process.

August 26th. An overcast morning. Two hours of driving, and I pull into parking area at Skydive Delmarva around 8:30 AM. The dropzone is begining to rouse. I walk over to the manifest building and check in. I fill out my waivers. Then wait for the fun to begin. I'm rather calm. I've committed to doing this, so now, it's a question of executing well.

Finally, 20 minute call. Things start moving. I meet the Tandem Instructor, we suit up, and go to the loading area. The videographer stops by for a quick interview. The big Otter fires up, rolls around to the loading area. The TI and I are the first two people on. I'm a little nervous but also trying to take in the sights and sounds.

Take off and the climb to altitude. Unbelieveable. I've never been in anything smaller than a 737. This time, we're sitting on the floor, cheek to jowel in this loud, rattling prop-driven plane. Seems pretty small now that I'm actually inside. Holy crap, I'm really going to do this. Finally, I hear a buzzer and see the famous green light go on next to the door. People are jumping out of that door. The plane is emptying fast. Just do it. The Tandem Instructor tells me to get up on my knees, one last adjustment and we waddle up to the door.

Holy crap, here it is, standing in the door. Whipping wind, clouds, the ground so far below. I'm about to jump out of a f*cking plane. Just do it. TI tells me to cross my arms, look up, remember to arch. Then, incredibly, we're out of the aircraft. I'm trying to take it all in. Remember to arch. I see the Otter getting smaller and smaller as we're falling away. Then, soon, we're face down, rocketing towards the earth. Like jumping off the highest high dive ever. Falling through the clouds gives me a sense of incredible speed.

Then, several seconds later, sudden deceleration, and quiet. What a view. Hanging under this piece of nylon several thousand feet up. Not many people get to see creation from this perspective. Glorious.

The TI points to a light brown circle and says we'll land there. We get closer to the ground. We're coming in fast. The toggles are pulled all the way down. Can't PLF a tandem. Gonna have to run this one out. I put one foot down, concussion, a confusion of lines, and we're down.

The TI unhooks me. Asks if I'm okay. I feel the concussion, and the dull ache setting in, and realize my foot isn't quite pointing in the right direction. He asks if I can get up. I am now unhooked, and realize there's no chance I can stand up. I say no, and lay down on my side. Then once I'm clear of the lines, I roll on my back. So much for my Saturday schedule.

A few jumpers move into action. One skydiver, identified himself as a paramedic, supports and elevates my ankle. He and another jumper carefully remove my shoe and sock. No pain from that. Surprising, the injury is gross-looking (caution, somewhat graphic - me in the ER), but I'm not feeling much pain at all. I remark on this. A thoughtful skydiver says, Oh, it'll start to hurt soon. Gee, thanks for that tidbit. I'm looking up at the clouds. Wow, I haven't done this in a long, long time. Beautiful. I ask for water. I realize I'm suddenly parched. Someone hands me a bottle of ice cold water. One of the sweetest bottles of water in my life. Then they take it away. The paramedics say I can't have any. I hear the ambulance. My jumpsuit is carefully removed. Ahhh, coolness.

Then I'm loaded on the ambulance. Then I'm in the ER. I'm fortunate to have an excellent doctor, and fortunate to have gone to a good hospital. The doctor skillfully anesthetizes the ankle with a hefty dose of lidocaine directly into the joint. He comes several minutes later and says it's time to reduce (relocate) the joint. I grasp the edge of the bed, clench my teeth, and think of civil war infantry. Doc says it won't be that bad. Prior experience contradicts his statement. A quick pull and I feel it go back in. Not much extra pain. In fact, now, it feels a bit better. Thanks for the skill and the anesthesia, doc.

Then it's off to surgery. Uneventful. I come out with hardware. Nine screws and a metal bar. A night spent in the hospital. The drive back to my place. Now, with the staples removed, and a hard cast on, I have probably 5 more weeks of not putting load on the ankle.

I did it. I f*cking did it. Do I regret it? No. It was a rare experience. I experienced jumping out an airplane for the first time. I suffered a serious injury. I had emergency surgery for the first time. I get an ankle full of hardware. I get time off work. And, I get one heck of a story.

As I was being worked on in the field, a jumper said that skydivers owe beer when there's a first and that I owed beer. Do I owe beer? I know I owe the people who kept my ankle elevated something.

As badly as the jump ended, I was lucky to be assisted by skillful and helpful jumpers, a great paramedic team, an outstanding hospital staff, and an outstanding orthopedic doctor. And friends and family have been great too. A freak accident, it could have been much worse.

First jump. First metal. Do I owe beer?

[grue 1]

Yow dude, you didn't show me the "before pins" pics on the chat this week

cavete terrae.

[godfrog 2]

WOW! dude, not only did you get to experience the thrill of your first skydive you managed to get into the elite club of the heavy metal. I hope that you heal fast and and keep enjoying life, I hope that you keep on skydiving.

Experience is a difficult teacher, she gives you the test first and the lesson afterward

[Lindercles 0]

Ouch. But at least you got a nice avatar out of it.

[BGill 0]

fuckin badass. welcome to the sport, and let's hope this is the only metal you'll have to get

[opurt 0]

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Yow dude, you didn't show me the "before pins" pics on the chat this week

I have more! Along the same lines though. Next time we're on chat, I can share the URL.

I was laying in the ER thinking, "I'm going through this, wouldn't it be great to get some pics?" I was still surprised the pain was tolerable. I hadn't had any drugs till this point. So, I asked several people if they could snap a pic. Fortunately someone had a camera phone, and voila! Vogueing in the ER

[opurt 0]

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Ouch. But at least you got a nice avatar out of it.

Indeed! Thanks much for suggesting it, that was excellent

[freeflir29 0]

Damn.........that sucks ass. But look at it this way. You learned a graphic lesson right out of the gate that skydiving can hurt when you do it wrong or even if you do everything right. Hopefully it'll make you an all the better skydiver when come back to finish your training. You are coming back and finishing your training.......right?

[Tink1717 2]

I'm glod you turned out OK. So, when are you coming back to see us? ALso, did you wind up at GBMC or what?

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[opurt 0]

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Damn.........that sucks ass. But look at it this way. You learned a graphic lesson right out of the gate that skydiving can hurt when you do it wrong or even if you do everything right. Hopefully it'll make you an all the better skydiver when come back to finish your training. You are coming back and finishing your training.......right?

I gotta tell ya... the jump was a glorious experience. Had I not had an incident, I feel like I would have almost certainly pursued it further.

But... I'm a little gun-shy right now. On the one hand, the ride to altitude, the freefall, the parachute ride - wow. But, there's that final part with the accident. I'd always be thinking about that. I've read of people who are farther along and have incidents like this. They frequently continue since they have a lot invested in the sport, and associate a lot more with skydiving than just the incident.

For me? Well, it's only 3 weeks beyond the incident. My current goal is to avoid loading the ankle so it heals properly and quickly. But I only had one jump. Who knows though. It was a compelling experience. I don't know at this point. I guess it'll be a combination of factors - how strong the ankle feels when it's healed, how compelled I feel to do it again, how could I avoid such an incident in the future... I guess only time will tell.

It was a very rich experience though, one which I don't regret at all.

[opurt 0]

godfrog, bgill, thanks for the good word! A skydiver on the field also remarked that I'd "gotten my first skydiving injury out of the way"

Currently the main thing on my mind is to help the ankle heal up as quickly and cleanly as possible (taking vitamin and mineral supplements, not loading it). Regardless of whether or not I do continue with this, it was a most remarkable experience, all of it.

[opurt 0]

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I'm glod you turned out OK. So, when are you coming back to see us? ALso, did you wind up at GBMC or what?

Hey Tink, I see Delmarva is your home DZ. Were you there that morning?

The ambulance took me to Nanticoke Memorial. I was very impressed with the hospital. The paramedics were great. Everyone down the line made the situation as good as it could have been. The hospital staff was fantastic. I've gotta get my hands on thank you notes and send them soon. My orthopedic surgeon at Nanticoke was most skillful. My orthopod on this side of the bridge commented that he had done excellent work.

I had the joint relocated and the surgery done at Nanticoke. Unfortunately though, the Nanticoke surgeon is leaving that hospital this month.

On this side of the bridge, I'm being treated by a practice that's located across from North Arundel Hospital, Chesapeake Orthopedic. It's post-op care - staple removal (done), getting a hard cast (done), getting a removeable cast, and physical therapy.

Regarding getting back to Delmarva, as soon as I'm mobile, I wouldn't mind stopping back out to enjoy some (adult) beverages. I still owe the folks who helped me out on the field, the beverages of their choice. As far as jumping again... I dunno. Basically, it'll be a combination of factors - how strong the ankle feels when it's healed, how compelled I feel to jump again, and how I could avoid such an incident in the future. The jump was excellent. I guess time will tell whether I pursue this further.

[cocheese 0]

Welcome to the sky. If and when you are ready to return, it will be good. I think you're hooked.

Heal up fast.

[Tink1717 2]

I was the off duty fierfighter/paramedic that got to you right after you landed. I was the one who was elevating your foot and got you out of the shoe and sock. Glad to see you're going to be OK.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[Randy_H 0]

welcome to the club!

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[swedishcelt 0]

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welcome to the club!

Then I'm loaded on the ambulance. Then I'm in the ER. I'm fortunate to have an excellent doctor, and fortunate to have gone to a good hospital. The doctor skillfully anesthetizes the ankle with a hefty dose of lidocaine directly into the joint. He comes several minutes later and says it's time to reduce (relocate) the joint.

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Yeah... but wth is this lidocaine stuff? Are you saying they could have done that for ME too? I had morphine but that was it!! It didn't do anything for when they stabilized and relocated it before the surgery. I'm jealous!!!

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[freeflir29 0]

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and how I could avoid such an incident in the future.

Rule#1 Don't do anything stupid and you'll be JUST fine.

Rule#2 Don't do tandems.........That shit is dangerous.

[sunshine 2]

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Yeah... but wth is this lidocaine stuff? Are you saying they could have done that for ME too? I had morphine but that was it!! It didn't do anything for when they stabilized and relocated it before the surgery. I'm jealous!!!

I had NOTHING for my pain til i got to the ER. The paramedics could not get the morphine IV in. But since shannon (girlfalldown) was there comforting me, she was nice enough to ask the medics if she could have my morphine. Oh how i miss that girl.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[Lindercles 0]

Shit, I broke my wrist (in a non skydiving incident) and had to ride to the hospital in a cab. Drugs? I'm just glad he didn't charge me.

Of course, this was on a Saturday, so the ER doc set it for me, then I had to wait two days for a surgeon to be available to operate.

[sartre 0]

Honey, after all that, I believe you are owed beer. And plenty of it!!!!

Sorry your first taste of ecstasy had such a crap ending.

If I ever meet you, I'll buy you beer and a shot or two!!! Just cause you had the presence of mind to get pics and then post them.

[Randy_H 0]

lol!

I had morphine sulfate in a PCA that I could click every 5 minutes or so. The day before they sent me home, I started milking the machine. I didn't know the nurses kept track of how many times you pushed it and had a few of them ask me "If I had a sudden increase in pain or something" I just told them "no, I'm going home tomorrow!"

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[Randy_H 0]

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He comes several minutes later and says it's time to reduce (relocate) the joint.

Ouchy!! Wasn't that just the best? I had no idea what he was doing when he wrapped a bed sheet around my foot, then over an unused IV rack, then a few wraps around his arm and he gets into this 'tug-of-war' stance....OWWW!

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[PrairieDoug 0]

You have a real gift for communication... it'll be a shame not to hear more of your stories if you don't continue in the sport.

Doug

[opurt 0]

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I was the off duty fierfighter/paramedic that got to you right after you landed. I was the one who was elevating your foot and got you out of the shoe and sock. Glad to see you're going to be OK.

Wow, no kidding! That's amazing. Small world.

I really appreciate what you did out there. You made the first phase of this incident as tolerable as it could be. Many thanks.

I owe you (several of) the beverage of your choice. I'm down in Columbia. Once I get mobile (about 5-6 weeks), we should get together. Either out here, or at some event at Delmarva.

Wow, it really is a small world

[Tink1717 2]

PM being sent.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717