Acole6357 0 #1 July 2, 2016 So I'm new to the forum and new to skydiving,I have a few questions to ask here as I want to do my first ever tandem jump,if eel its on my bucket list of things to do before I die. I'll try to make this short,first off I'll start by saying this,in 2009 I slid down a firepole in a fire house and fractured my spine in my t-12 area and was given 13 hours of surgery,I now have a titanium cage in my spine,it's been 8 years since my accident so I guess I could say I'm 70-80 percent healed, have digenerative disc disease in a disc in my lower back which causes daily ache issue but it's not bad at all. So my questions are 1) can I tandem skydive 2) what are issues I face as far as chute opening and landing 3) can my skydive center do things to accomidate me as far as landing and chute opening 4) if I talk to my doctor I feel he'd be able to tell me how my back is doing but he's prob never been sky Diving so how would he know the dangers of sky ding with a broken back. My doctor could say you should not do it becuase it looks dangerous and you might slip your disc even more,but if he's never been sky diving how would he know? As well I feel there are people one here with worse off issues than myself who can respond and tel me well I did it with a broken back and I was fine. And if it's ok for me to do it with little issues,how to go about letting the skydive center in my area I'm jumping with issues?so they can accomidate me. I live in the Baltimore area so I'd be using either skydive Delmarva or skydive Baltimore, as well I'm doing this becuase I'll be 40 in August. Thanks for the reply and enjoy the rest of your dayQuote Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites sammielu 3 #2 July 2, 2016 Talk to your doctor. Ask if it would be ok for you to jump from 3-4 feet and land on your butt with your feet straight out and all your weight on your tailbone/spine. Instructors do our absolute best to land sofly and keep passengers comfortable through all parts of the skydive. Some instructors and landing circumstances are better than others and there's no way for you to know in advance. There is no guarantee or insurance in skydiving, it is not "safe", it is not for everyone. When you check in to skydive you'll sign a very long waiver that explains all thus in legalese - the choice to skydive is yours and you are the only one responsible for how it goes, whether you are uncomfortable, injured, or not. Instructors and business are not responsible (legally) for keeping you safe, you make the choice before you skydive. It sounds harsh, I know, but we're dealing with real risk for real bodies here, accept it or dont do it. You might be fine, you might hurt yourself a lot, no one on the Internet can honestly tell you otherwise. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites riggerrob 558 #3 July 3, 2016 Have you talked directly with Skydive Delmarva or Skydive Baltimore? How tall are you? How heavy are you? How flexible are you? Can you touch your toes? How muscular are you? How many chin-ups can you do? How many sit-ups can you do? Can you run down stairs? Can you roll on a judo mat? How far can you run? What other sports do you play? I ask all these questions to evaluate how far you have rehabilitated from your injuries. For comparison: I have sprained an ankle, sprained a knee, sprained a thumb, sprained my neck, concussion, face resewn twice, herniated two lumbar vertebrae, dis-located a shoulder, torn ligaments in my knee, bruised ribs, bruised my sternum, etc. during skydives but rehabilitated well-enough to do six tandem jumps (instructor's position) last Sunday. Perhaps my question is: "How hard have you worked in rehab?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites raff 4 #4 July 3, 2016 riggerrobHave you talked directly with Skydive Delmarva or Skydive Baltimore?I'm sure there are numerous doctors on staff at the above DZs. See previous post. Please do not solicit input from the skydiving community. No matter how well-meaning, nobody here is qualified to give you advice. This includes any of the MDs who also skydive. Only YOUR doctor should advise you on this matter. Best wishes for a full recovery, no matter how long that takes, and for a fulfillment of all of your bucket items. raffIf you leave the plane without a parachute, you will be fine for the rest of your life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Acole6357 0 #5 July 3, 2016 Thanks for the reply!I am going to talk to my Doctor this week indeed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Acole6357 0 #6 July 3, 2016 Thanks for the reply,I've not done a ton of rehab since my accident,but I can tell you I've done plenty of things that I could of easily hurt my back again with not much of a problem,I'm 5'7-128 pounds and very nimble but in the past 8 years I've run for miles one end even ran a half marathon.I've been cyxling for 5 years and have ridden 1000's of miles one roads and hiles,I've been living weights for the past month get work my chest area to become stronger as well as my arms and shoulders.I was just worried about the landing as well as the chute opening,but I guess it would be a risk I take.my father is 75 and last year went sky diving and he's not the most fit person as he's older now and said his landing was not bad ar all my mother has gone as well and her landing was not bad either,but I'll def all to my doctor about the three to four foot landing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites sammielu 3 #7 July 3, 2016 Good call. Bottom line is there is no guarantee that a skydive will not hurt someone. Your doctor can help you evaluate the risk and potential injury due to your previous injuries, but there is no way to know for sure. Some people are bendy and more likely to roll with the punches so to speak, some people break bones, sprain ankles, or throw their back out doing everyday activities. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Acole6357 0 #8 July 12, 2016 So I have an appointment with a new doctor tommorow as my old doctor has moved out of state,my old doctor is the one who knows the most about my back condition,hopefully my new doctor can ex ray me and tell me if is ok for me to tandem jump or not because I'm so stoked and really want to go so bad.I'll reply tomorrow after my doctor replys Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites PeteW 0 #9 July 12, 2016 I crashed paragliding 7 years ago and compression fractured my L1. My doc said the next accident could be worse. My injury was nowhere as bad as yours thou. Since I returned to skydiving this yeah I promised myself I would stay conservative and be safe. But I'm a dad and husband now too. It's a tough call to make. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. 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sammielu 3 #2 July 2, 2016 Talk to your doctor. Ask if it would be ok for you to jump from 3-4 feet and land on your butt with your feet straight out and all your weight on your tailbone/spine. Instructors do our absolute best to land sofly and keep passengers comfortable through all parts of the skydive. Some instructors and landing circumstances are better than others and there's no way for you to know in advance. There is no guarantee or insurance in skydiving, it is not "safe", it is not for everyone. When you check in to skydive you'll sign a very long waiver that explains all thus in legalese - the choice to skydive is yours and you are the only one responsible for how it goes, whether you are uncomfortable, injured, or not. Instructors and business are not responsible (legally) for keeping you safe, you make the choice before you skydive. It sounds harsh, I know, but we're dealing with real risk for real bodies here, accept it or dont do it. You might be fine, you might hurt yourself a lot, no one on the Internet can honestly tell you otherwise. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #3 July 3, 2016 Have you talked directly with Skydive Delmarva or Skydive Baltimore? How tall are you? How heavy are you? How flexible are you? Can you touch your toes? How muscular are you? How many chin-ups can you do? How many sit-ups can you do? Can you run down stairs? Can you roll on a judo mat? How far can you run? What other sports do you play? I ask all these questions to evaluate how far you have rehabilitated from your injuries. For comparison: I have sprained an ankle, sprained a knee, sprained a thumb, sprained my neck, concussion, face resewn twice, herniated two lumbar vertebrae, dis-located a shoulder, torn ligaments in my knee, bruised ribs, bruised my sternum, etc. during skydives but rehabilitated well-enough to do six tandem jumps (instructor's position) last Sunday. Perhaps my question is: "How hard have you worked in rehab?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raff 4 #4 July 3, 2016 riggerrobHave you talked directly with Skydive Delmarva or Skydive Baltimore?I'm sure there are numerous doctors on staff at the above DZs. See previous post. Please do not solicit input from the skydiving community. No matter how well-meaning, nobody here is qualified to give you advice. This includes any of the MDs who also skydive. Only YOUR doctor should advise you on this matter. Best wishes for a full recovery, no matter how long that takes, and for a fulfillment of all of your bucket items. raffIf you leave the plane without a parachute, you will be fine for the rest of your life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Acole6357 0 #5 July 3, 2016 Thanks for the reply!I am going to talk to my Doctor this week indeed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Acole6357 0 #6 July 3, 2016 Thanks for the reply,I've not done a ton of rehab since my accident,but I can tell you I've done plenty of things that I could of easily hurt my back again with not much of a problem,I'm 5'7-128 pounds and very nimble but in the past 8 years I've run for miles one end even ran a half marathon.I've been cyxling for 5 years and have ridden 1000's of miles one roads and hiles,I've been living weights for the past month get work my chest area to become stronger as well as my arms and shoulders.I was just worried about the landing as well as the chute opening,but I guess it would be a risk I take.my father is 75 and last year went sky diving and he's not the most fit person as he's older now and said his landing was not bad ar all my mother has gone as well and her landing was not bad either,but I'll def all to my doctor about the three to four foot landing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sammielu 3 #7 July 3, 2016 Good call. Bottom line is there is no guarantee that a skydive will not hurt someone. Your doctor can help you evaluate the risk and potential injury due to your previous injuries, but there is no way to know for sure. Some people are bendy and more likely to roll with the punches so to speak, some people break bones, sprain ankles, or throw their back out doing everyday activities. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Acole6357 0 #8 July 12, 2016 So I have an appointment with a new doctor tommorow as my old doctor has moved out of state,my old doctor is the one who knows the most about my back condition,hopefully my new doctor can ex ray me and tell me if is ok for me to tandem jump or not because I'm so stoked and really want to go so bad.I'll reply tomorrow after my doctor replys Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeteW 0 #9 July 12, 2016 I crashed paragliding 7 years ago and compression fractured my L1. My doc said the next accident could be worse. My injury was nowhere as bad as yours thou. Since I returned to skydiving this yeah I promised myself I would stay conservative and be safe. But I'm a dad and husband now too. It's a tough call to make. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
