A step in the right direction-Shayna Richardson

[BlindBrick 0]

I've been angry about this situation since it happened. I felt that Shayna and Rick totally played it wrong. I also have wondered how big of a motive money was. However, I do beleive in giving credit where credit is due. Someone posted a news story on a private dz website, and I've quoted a relevant portion of it below.

From the Springfield News-Leader:

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She calls the failure of both chutes a "one in a million fluke," and hates it that her accident brought bad publicity to the Siloam Springs drop site. "My gear was my own personal gear. (The staff) followed every United States Parachute Association regulation to the T." But she doesn't kid herself that she shouldn't have survived the tragedy. "It's the love of God, that's all there is to it. It was strictly the hand of God in my life, doing what needed to be done."

I believe this is a definite step in the right direction. I am still along way from being happy about things, but I do give her my respect for finally acknowleding that this affects more than her and trying to set the record straight. I can only hope that she takes this farther and publically acknowledges that her boyfriend was instructing her outside of any standard student program.

-Blind

"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

[windcatcher 0]

yeah, right on Jack.All I want to see happen, is for the facts to be reported, and Shayna and Rick don't have to endure so much negativity.

happy Christmas jack

Mother to the cutest little thing in the world...

[tbrown 26]

Everybody at work today, and I mean EVERYBODY is asking me about the poor preganant lady who broke her face skydiving and "how come her reserve didn't open". I'm getting to the point that I'm telling them it would take us a good 20 minutes to sit down and have me explain the laundry list of things they did wrong. Then I tell them that the TV newshounds don't know what the hell they're talking about, they just got some juicy film of a nasty accident and they're squeezing it for the last dollar.

But I'm seeing what a negative impact this is having on ordinary people around me who don't understand what's involved in our sport. And I'll tell you something else, the lies don't stop with skydiving, they're aimed at everything these people want you to think on every subject, from race to crime to the war in Iraq.

As they say up in Oregon, "Kill your TV".

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[hobbes4star 0]

I second that, everyone I work with has come up to me today with statements like "that’s why I would never skydive" and "look another person almost died skydiving." and my personal favorite “ I thought you said that a parachute was made to open” I have tried to explain to these people but lets face it, we might as well be speaking a different language to them. They all think that it was here first skydive and that the equipment was to blame. I love how the news is just playing it up without a care of the repercussions that this has on so many things. How many people will not go make that tandem they have been thinking about. How much money will DZ owners loose out on because the news.

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[Elisha 1]

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As they say up in Oregon, "Kill your TV".

I called Comcast 2 days ago and cancelled my cable starting 1/1/06. I can't believe I actually made the phone call. Hello NetFlix!

[GogglesnTeeth 6]

I work at a TV station in Florida as a director. When I saw the script for the story they were going to do last night, I went up to the executive producer and told him that he needs to put more and correct information in it. I offered him just a few more things to put in there that would make it at least correct. Of course, the producer didn't want anything to do with what was correct, but wanted to go with the same news copy that all the other stations have been going with, which as we all know is usually wrong and was incorrect once again in this case.
I tried my best to give the correct information to the newspeople, and they still didn't run with it.
Needless to say, I was more than a bit pissed at the Executive producer last night after the show for once again giving the wrong information about a skydiving related incident.
I really don't like newspeople, and I work with them every day.

Goggles and Teeth

"You fall like a greased safe!!!"

[wildcard451 0]

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I work at a TV station in Florida as a director. When I saw the script for the story they were going to do last night, I went up to the executive producer and told him that he needs to put more and correct information in it. I offered him just a few more things to put in there that would make it at least correct. Of course, the producer didn't want anything to do with what was correct, but wanted to go with the same news copy that all the other stations have been going with, which as we all know is usually wrong and was incorrect once again in this case.
I tried my best to give the correct information to the newspeople, and they still didn't run with it.
Needless to say, I was more than a bit pissed at the Executive producer last night after the show for once again giving the wrong information about a skydiving related incident.
I really don't like newspeople, and I work with them every day.

yeah, someone punch that guy in the teeth.

[Viking 0]

i'd aim just a little lower and i'd use a foot to do the job...........

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[micro 0]

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i'd aim just a little lower and i'd use a foot to do the job...........

you just gave me wood, hearing you talk all bad like that, arthur!

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[hobbes4star 0]

why hurt your own fist to punch him in the teeth the crotch much better and you have the shoe to protect your feet

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[GogglesnTeeth 6]

I tried to get the right info out there, but what the "newspeople" do with it, is out of my control.

Whatever happened to wanting to present the facts instead of just trying to get whatever information out first, right or wrong, we got it there first!!!!


I need a new career!

edited to add: yes, I am at work while I write this.

Goggles and Teeth

"You fall like a greased safe!!!"

[caico.katie 0]

What are the fact? Where will we find these facts? Are we sure that these facts are indeed facts? (PLEASE NOTE: this is not an attack, they are questions. I would like to know just why my beautiful little smashed her face.)

[caico.katie 0]

When I first got news that Shayna had been injured, what I heard was "Shayna didn't land quite right and knocked out five of her teeth."

The information dribbled in slowly until finally I hear that she is in critical condition, suffering from multiple injuries and has bleeding in the brain. I think Rick was really scared. Most of Shayna's family has not welcomed Rick in with open arms; I am sure he was very worried about them blaming him for Shayna's accident. I think that is why the severity of her accident was reported at it was. Also, most of her family thought she would do the first jump and that would be the end of it, so Shayna doesn't really have a lot of family approval either (at least concerning her choice to jump repeatedly). As for the publicity, give it about ten days and it will all be past. American news loves to show the tragedies; I mean, they are making this out to be a miracle, but my opinion is that the only reason they are covering it is because there is a video -- we, as a nation, are so much like the Romans, lusting for blood and violence. Movies turn people getting hurt into comedy -- getting hurt isnot funny! I stopped watching the news a long time ago because it was too upsetting -- constant bad news. Is that all the American people want to hear, or is that all the American press wants to cover. It is news when good things happen too.

So, what good thing happened to you today? (question directed at anyone who reads this)

[Zenister 0]

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I would like to know just why my beautiful little smashed her face.

its very simple really.. she had substandard instruction because she didnt follow a standardized program taught by an 'impartial' instructor..

he is very lucky... he could have to live with the fact he was directly responsible for her death...

canopy checks, correcting spins and dealing with a possible toggle fire (and other 'common' malfunctions) are all part of the standardized program. If she had attended one instead of relying on her boyfriend she would have known what to do... particularly since it was not her first jump...

its a perfect of example of what can happen when you attempt shortcuts in training your life will depend on..

[edit for clarity]

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[NtheSeaOrSky 0]

Hey Zen,

She is not a jumper so the last part of your post probably made about zero sense to her.

Life is not fair and there are no guarantees...

[Michele 1]

Something good which happened today was my Father's response to this. Indeed, he saw it; indeed, he called me. And to his enormous credit, he asked me what had happened...so I explained as best I could to him what I knew of, and how it could've been prevented. And then he asked me "did your training cover that?"

I replied "Yes, Pop, I'm good to go in that regard. No guarantee that I'll do the right thing, but I've been trained for things like that, and I think about it all the time" and he told me "phew. I was thinking I'd give you the money to get the right training if you weren't." I told him to deposit it into my account instead, that I'd love more canopy training...he said he'd consider that.

Back to the topic at hand, it's good to see Shayna trying to do the right thing.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[bob.dino 0]

Read the thread in the Incidents forum on this site.

[Bigwallmaster 0]

Everybody at work today, and I mean EVERYBODY is asking me about the poor preganant lady who broke her face skydiving and "how come her reserve didn't open". I'm getting to the point that I'm telling them it would take us a good 20 minutes to sit down and have me explain the laundry list of things they did wrong.

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Uh. . . . . .yep!! Pretty much sums up my day too.

. . . . ."Kill your TV"

[ntrprnr 0]

Funny... There was a poll on here a few days ago - "do you tell people you work with/employers that you're a skydiver."

I said yes. Now, after 50 email forwards from well-meaning friends/employees, I'm considering changing my answer. :)

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Everybody at work today, and I mean EVERYBODY is asking me about the poor preganant lady who broke her face skydiving and "how come her reserve didn't open". I'm getting to the point that I'm telling them it would take us a good 20 minutes to sit down and have me explain the laundry list of things they did wrong.

------------------------------------------------------------

Uh. . . . . .yep!! Pretty much sums up my day too.

. . . . ."Kill your TV"

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[caico.katie 0]

Hey everybody, I have kind of lost track of where I have been posting, so maybe you can pass this on for me: I hope I haven't offended anyone with anything I have written. I just want to see everybody get along, everybody, everywhere (yeah, okay, I'm a little, no a lot, unrealistic). So when I see people bickering I just try to make sense of the whole thing and bring peace to the situation. I am very sorry that Shayna, my neice, has presented your sport in an unfavorable light. And I am sorry for referring to anyone under twentyfive as a kid, but hey, I'm old -- to me you are a kid. To someone 75, I'm a kid. While I didn't like being referred to as a kid when I was 22, I do like it now -- you will understand when you get to be over 40. The way I see it is if I am old enough to have been a reasonable child bearing age when you were born, then you are a kid -- let me see, with that in mind I would have to say anyone 21 or yonger is a kid, so I take it back from all of you over 21 -- I could have been your mom, but in my opinion, a young mom.

So anyway, enjoy your sport, be safe, don't become a statistic, and wash you hands after you use the bathroom (you know, you are suppose to scrub your hands for the length of time that it takes you to sing "Happy Birthday" or the ABC song -- again, I have to say, have pitty on my children, they would want you to ).

To all of you 21 and under... don't forget to brush your teeth before you go to bed. G'night!

[happythoughts 0]

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I love how the news is just playing it up without a care of the repercussions that this has on so many things. How many people will not go make that tandem they have been thinking about.

Maybe long-term, it is ok. It only takes one senators kid to break something and there will be "a thorough investigation" (witch hunt).

People need to be reminded that you can get severely injured doing this, even if you are careful and well trained. Nobody is immune.

Perhaps a few marginal types will stay home when they should. That would be a good thing.

[NewGuy2005 51]

I was surrounded by people within 5 minutes of arriving at work. One thing that amazed me was how many conflicting stories people at work were telling about the story as they heard it on the news.

I talked to Shayna at the DZ about a month after the accident. She seemed pretty level headed about the whole thing and said straight up that she will kick herself the rest of her life for chopping a perfectly good canopy.

One thing we all need to keep in mind is that all we are hearing is the news account of Shayna's account of what happened. The news people are not interested in giving information. This was just an opportunity to get people to not turn off their sets for another few minutes. She may have given them the complete and accurate skydiver's version of the story but all they used were the "juicy" parts.

[cameramonkey 0]

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I really don't like newspeople, and I work with them every day.

I dont like them either... my vote is dont shoot your TV, shoot the producers!

on a similar note, I just finished a post railing on the media...
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1978317;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

Two wrongs don't make a right, however three lefts DO!

[thepollster 0]

Is she a relative of Heath? That might explain some things

BTW, is "eggshell" a new medical term? I keep hearing she "eggshelled" her face.

[inearnest 0]

I don't have the kind of experience in this sport to make this kind of assessment, so I'm going to ask the question instead of make a proclamation. It sounded on the video like the guy was screaming "pump your breaks, pump your breaks" the entire way down. It doesn't appear that she was attempting to steer her canopy. Perhaps it got away from her. I know I had a spinning mal that I had to punch one time and one of my toggles came loose as I reached for them, but the velocity of the spin made it impossible for me to reach the lines and kick out and unhook the other toggle.

Still, from what I understand (and much of it has come from reading here, which could mean I'm buying into speculation, and maybe this should be asked in the incident thread) wouldn't this situation have been better handled if she had said, "The equipment was fine. I had a malfunction, paniced and made a few wrong decisions as a pilot. This was jumper error." Of course, a lot of this depends on how the news pieces have been edited. She may have said that very thing.

I hate even speculating like this, because in the end the more important thing to me is that we did not lose another jumper. But wasn't this pilot error?

I'm asking, not judging.

---
"Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again."
Peace