Starx 1 #1 October 29, 2017 Long story short, I broke my neck during a hard opening. I was extremely lucky in that there was no spinal cord damage and I landed safely. I will soon be having the second surgery to take hardware out of my neck. There will no doubt be a fairly long period of physical therapy and letting the bone strengthen, but after all that is said and done I am left to decide whether I return to skydiving or not. Obviously I'd like to, but of course I'm worried that my neck will not be strong enough to withstand an opening that's not perfect, or my neck is fine and I have another hard opening as bad as this one. And maybe this time it kills me, or worse. On the other hand I've finally found something that not only do I love, but I also seem to be reasonably talented at. If I don't go back to jumping will I just be bitter/regretful about it? I think hearing what others have done in their circumstances can often help you process your own, so I'm wondering if yall have stories, personal or otherwise, of people who did or didn't come back to skydiving after a serious injury. I am particularly interested in any stories where the injury was a neck injury, or was due to a hard opening, but that set of circumstances might be too specific, so feel free to share anything you think might be relevant. Best case scenario I'm probably still out all next season, so I've got plenty of time to mull this over and and advice yall have I'd be interested in hearing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
countzero 7 #2 October 29, 2017 I know 2 people that wear soft cervical collars to jump due to past neck injuries due to hard openings. They also pack for slow openings and jump canopies with Dacron lines.diamonds are a dawgs best friend Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheBachelor 5 #3 October 30, 2017 I have two levels fused in my cervical spine and I've been jumping for almost 10 years since. My doctor made me take 6 months off before jumping, still he wasn't sure about me jumping again. I was fairly confident since they left my hardware in, and I know several people jumping with the same condition. Your situation is different with them taking the hardware out. You're back to the same bones that failed before. You can try to have a slow-opening canopy. That's what I did, but still once every 75 or 100 jumps, I'd get spanked. It is up to you, but talk it over carefully with your doctor. Mine wasn't thrilled with me jumping, but said it would probably be OK. If he had said "absolutely not," I would have followed his advice. I love jumping, but it's not worth paralysis or losing your life for.There are battered women? I've been eating 'em plain all of these years... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bibliwho 1 #4 October 30, 2017 I also have a couple of fused levels w/ the hardware still in place. Not an expert researcher in medicine, but I do have a background in research so felt confident enough to see what I could find. There's a fair bit of research on parachute opening shock, but not much specifically tied to cervical injuries. I found just one article in the medical literature: http://ijomeh.eu/Skydiving-and-the-risk-of-cervical-disc-herniation,68219,0,2.html Standard opening forces appear to be in the range of 3-5 G's. My doc cleared me to play rugby, where forces range from 10-20 G's, w/ 40+ G impacts not uncommon. Based on this, I'm planning to continue. Still have very low jump numbers, however, so opening characteristics will be a big factor when it's time to buy my first gear. Will also be spending a lot of time picking the brains of packers for tips. You might also want to touch base w/ long-time camera guys like Norman Kent, who are used to jumping w/ some seriously large pieces of equipment attached to their helmets & who have even more motivation than regular jumpers to minimizing the stresses on their necks & spines. HTH. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starx 1 #5 October 31, 2017 What levels are yall fused at? My injury is to C2, so if I don't get the hardware out I can't turn my head more than 10ish degrees in either direction. I figured only looking straight ahead while under canopy sounds like a bad idea... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjlaw201 0 #6 October 31, 2017 switched to a pocket slider few yrs ago. openings are butter soft every jump. longer snivel, but it saved my neck and my skydiving career. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
