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Xtine

Did an accident shake your confidence?

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I broke my fibula and dislocated my ankle approximately a month ago. I had a 9 month layoff prior to the accident, and I know what I did wrong on the jump so that is not the topic of my question... My question is, did any of you have a minor or major accident that shook your confidence or made you think twice about jumping again? What was your experience and how did you deal with it?

I'm bumming out because I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't jump anymore. It's depressing me because I don't want to give up jumping but I'm scared for my bones and my life... what if I fuck up again??? I don't really want to give up one of the best things in my life... but I don't want to be paralyzed or dead either.

I'm looking for helpful and constructive feedback.
There are three types of people in this world. Those who can count and those who can't.

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Shah puts down glass of bourbon, looks at right leg, notes 4 scars, looks to the left notes crutches. Looks at book case sees the SIM, goggles and altimeter.

I don't know. I'll be honest with you Xtine I've thought about not going back. But then again I was only on jump #8 so what is there to go back to really? Well the guys at the DZ are great and I LOVE free fall.....but is it worth it?

God I don't know. But I do know I would never forgive myself if I didn't give it another try next spring. So I'm planning on doing one tandem with my good friend and instructor to get my sky legs back and if that feels good I'm going to repeat the AFP jump that got me. In the mean time I have taken a canopy class, I'm going to buy an Ultima (that thing that will beep in my ear and let me know how high I am so as to line up my approach) and......I'm going to trust my friend to put me on the best gear possible to assure my safety.

I'm sorry please forgive me I wish I had a yes no answer. I don't think there are real answers to your question. I wish you a speedy recovery.

ps
which leg? I took out the right one :S

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

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(that thing that will beep in my ear and let me know how high I am so as to line up my approach)



Dude I don't wanna be a gear Nazi, and this subject's already been beat to death (do a search on 'instrument dependence'), but please DON'T come back into the sport with 8 jumps and metal in your leg thinking that the solution to avoiding another crash is to 'wait for a beep'. Get you sight picture dialed in...PERIOD. Your training is what you use to line up your approach, and if you have an instructor on radio helping you than that will be a serious bonus, but the last thing you need is to start depending on a beep to know when you should start a 300' final approach.

But hey, I'm just some random guy on the internet, what do I know?[:/]
I got nuthin

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I busted my ass a while ago and I had some mixed feelings about getting back, but it's what I wanted and so I did it. From your post you make it clear that you love the sport, but also that you're concerned of the dangers. Knowing those two things, you need to make a personal decision about whether or not to come back.

For your situation, do you think the 9 month layoff was a big factor in the accident? Do you think that you can come back to the sport and dedicate the time and the money you need to avoid another 9 month layoff, which would therefore decrease the likelihood of another accident?

You say that you know what you did wrong on that jump...If you do decide to come back, my advice would be to think about what you did wrong, but don't over-think it. Analyze your mistakes and make a plan to avoid them in the future, but don't dwell on them. That will only serve to psych yourself out.

I had to wait 13 weeks between my accident and convincing the DZO that I could land a student rig on one leg. I had some nerves in the plane, but I shut the needless worry out of my head and focused on what I had to do to get myself to the ground safely. After a while I completely forgot the needless worry, but I never lost a healthy respect for the ground.

I hope you make the decision that's best for you! If nothing else, come back because we need more boobies in the sky:P

I got nuthin

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As I go in for my ACL/MCL surgery tomorrow morning, I look at the laundry list of broken bones (now up to 58 in my lifetime) garnered from a lot of sports activities ranging from skydiving to rodeo....

Accidents teach us lessons. Using an audible isn't the lesson you should have learned from your accident.

Another lesson to learn is that we don't want to repeat what we did. If you know what you did, GREAT! Don't repeat it.
Of course your confidence is shaken. You screwed up. So did I. Some people say "That'll never happen to me." And then it does. I never planned on dropping a toggle. One guy on my DZ called me an idiot for dropping a toggle. Only idiots drop toggles. Many who do don't get a second chance. Skydiving sometimes doesn't give second chances.
What if you f**k up again? Guaranteed, you will. Hopefully the damage will be less severe. I nearly died; I'm working hard to get back up in the air. And know that on that first jump back, I'm at greater risk than I was as an AFF Cat A student, because my confidence is shaken. I think that's a normal response.

How am I dealing with it? As though I'm an AFF student, and I'm my own instructor. I'm upsizing back to a 190 and not jumping my smaller canopies for a while. No riser turns for a while. Nothing aggressive for a while. Being hyper aware. And I hope I don't become complacent (again) because I believe a dropped toggle may have resulted from complacency ("I've landed a thousand times this way before, right?") I f**ked up. Badly. And am very lucky to have lived through it. Perforated colons and open-booked pelvis' make for a bad day.

If you want a guarantee that you won't be paralyzed or dead...quit jumping. The ONLY way to guarantee that you won't be hurt badly in a skydiving accident is to not skydive.

My accident nearly killed me. I'm going back up. I'm using caution, but my passion for flying outweighs my fear of injury. YMMV.
If you're interested in some of what went through my head during my experience, I wrote about it here.

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shah, quit your FUCKING WHINING!!! >:(>:(>:(

you've been a fucking dumb arse, its all YOUR fault, all of dorkzone laughs at you, and to be honest, YOU should never return! all the shit you're coming up with is about the most stupid i've ever read on here... and its scary to read! :S

to the OP: it is a dangerous activity, you can do everything right and still some douche might take you out, BUT: skydiving is for a good chance as safe as you make it to be!

when i was still a student, a friend hokked himself in next to me. broken neck and femur, he's lucky enough to be still alive and walking again! and yes, he's also back skydiving. i sat next to his impact, i didnt quite see it, but i FELT him. when i was looking over, all i see is a guy rolling over and into his canopy. i was certain i just witnessed a fatality..

if i am still in, and the guy that had the accident still jumps, you can do it! but its up to you to decide if its worth for you or not, just like you decided to pick it up in the first place. none of us can take that away from you! its your responsibility, as its every time you leave a plane..

good luck! :)

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

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My suggestion would be to think of the worst case scenario, if you can deal with that & still want to be a sky jumper then heal up & get back into it (slowly as DSE said). If you can't deal with the worst case then quit the sport with no regrets, it's not for you.

Good luck, any choice you make with a clear head is the right choice.

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broke my tib and fib and had hardware installed back in may. had a lot of time to think about things and my faith carried me through the darkest times.

in the end i decided that what i get out of jumping is worth the risk involved. and when i return next month i know the nerves and fear will be there but i will focus that energy on being safer.
diamonds are a dawgs best friend

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I broke my fibula and dislocated my ankle approximately a month ago. I had a 9 month layoff prior to the accident, and I know what I did wrong on the jump so that is not the topic of my question... My question is, did any of you have a minor or major accident that shook your confidence or made you think twice about jumping again? What was your experience and how did you deal with it?

I'm bumming out because I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't jump anymore. It's depressing me because I don't want to give up jumping but I'm scared for my bones and my life... what if I fuck up again??? I don't really want to give up one of the best things in my life... but I don't want to be paralyzed or dead either.

I'm looking for helpful and constructive feedback.



Yes, but it was not my accident that made me think "WTF am I doing here?". It was the loss of a very experienced jumper early in my skydiving career that made me question my ability to survive this sport. He was the first person that I actually knew who died in the sport. Although there have been too many losses of friends and acquaintances since then, that one was the wake-up call for me. It brought home the realization that this sport really was dangerous and that maybe I wasn't prepared for it. But I kept jumping anyway.

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Three years ago, on jump 19, I flared too high and severed my ACL. It hurt, but I considered jumping again that day since it seemed I hadn't broken anything. The next day I realized something was wrong and found out about the ACL. The surgery and recovery were much worse than the accident. During the recovery time I got into flying airplanes and got my pilot's license. So part of the delay in my return to skydiving is that all my spare cash has been going into flying, but now I find myself missing jumping and, even worse, knowing that I was so close to getting my A license. I only had Cat H to complete. I don't think I'll repeat my mistake, although there are plenty of others I could make. Every time I'm flying along at jump altitude I wistfully look out and long for that rush of cool air and adrenaline. If I'm near a DZ I monitor the frequency and if I hear "jumpers away" it's nearly more than I can stand. I feel that I will never be satisfied until I go back and at least finish what I started....and go from there. Good luck with your decision, as others have said it's a personal one and there are consequences to NOT jumping as well as to jumping.

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I wouldn't say it shook my confidence, but did add a little excitement to the first couple back after it was over. Mine was a night jump and I have not done that again. And not sure when I will. I think it taught me to respect my limits and be realistic about my abilities.
POPS #10623; SOS #1672

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I broke my fibula and dislocated my ankle approximately a month ago. I had a 9 month layoff prior to the accident, and I know what I did wrong on the jump so that is not the topic of my question... My question is, did any of you have a minor or major accident that shook your confidence or made you think twice about jumping again? What was your experience and how did you deal with it?

I'm bumming out because I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't jump anymore. It's depressing me because I don't want to give up jumping but I'm scared for my bones and my life... what if I fuck up again??? I don't really want to give up one of the best things in my life... but I don't want to be paralyzed or dead either.

I'm looking for helpful and constructive feedback.



You have over 100 jumps. You love the sport. Butch up.

If you have legitimate concerns, use your knowledge and the resources around you to deal with them. Otherwise trust in yourself and understand that this is a sport with a certain amount of risk.

You must either do everything reasonable to minimize that risk and move forward, or you must decide that the risk is not worth the reward.

Your call.
Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

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I'm scared for my bones and my life... what if I fuck up again??? I don't really want to give up one of the best things in my life... but I don't want to be paralyzed or dead either.

Hell, so am I. :D

What can you do to mitigate your risks. Bigger canopy, a little coaching, what? You say you know what you did wrong. What can you do to avoid that. Like Chuck said, your call. Good luck to you. :)

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I rode bulls for several years, I can still remember the first time a bull knocked me out cold. I was bruised and brok ribs. This kept me off of bulls for 8 months. When I was cleared to ride again I was scared for my life. The first time I tried to ride, I was on the back of the bull and the fear was over whelming I actually got off the bull. My father came over and made me get back on, I can still remember the words. "If you do not do this, you will regret it forever" And with a few encouraging words I was back up and riding again.

So what I am saying, is that you have to get back on that plane and jump at least one more time, and after that you will have to ask yourself if it was worth the ride.

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what if I fuck up again??? I don't really want to give up one of the best things in my life... but I don't want to be paralyzed or dead either..

if you are scared, don't go
if you are not ready to assume risks, don't go
if you have thought about it some more, and are ready to do it again, then smile, relax, and go.

I did have a big event that slowed me down and make me realise the risks a little bit more
READ THIS
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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That old saying of, "If you get bucked off, you need to get back on", holds true for skydiving too.

I've never been really busted up bad skydiving. I've sprained ankles, bruised feet, messed up my neck, along with a few other minor injuries, but I've never broke anything skydiving. Maybe I've been lucky.

Probably my worst accident came from a low turn a few years back. I slammed into the ground with unbelievable force, and I think a good PLF saved me. I spent over a month recouping and thinking about that accident.

When you are hurt, you have to wait till you heal to jump again. All that waiting gives you too much time to think. The sooner you can get back in the air again, the better.

And yes, my first few jumps back were scary. If you can conquer that, you'll feel really good about yourself.

I've had a long list of broken bones. I too used to rodeo. It was really hard to crawl back on a bronc after getting busted up bad.

My first rodeo, I was nocked out for 45 minutes. Everyone thought I had a broken neck. I woke up in the ambulance with a broken arm. I remember laying in a hospital bed (that night) with a concussion and wondering if I should quit....

A few days after getting out of the hospital I got on the phone and entered another rodeo. I could still ride with my free arm in a cast. I was scared plenty at that next several rodeos, but I did it. After a while the fear began to lessen.

Maybe all that was kind of stupid, but I'm glad I could muster the courage to continue on with that sport.

If I hadn't I would have spent the rest of my life wondering what it would have been like if I hadn't quit......

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You sound normal, I had excactly the same feelings after I broke my leg in a bad landing.

I came back, and it was scary, but so worth it.

I learned from my incident: it happened when the winds were strong and gusty, and I didn't really have control, so I stopped jumping in winds that I'm unsure about. I've also concentrated on learning to land where I want, and I've avoided many hairy situations by improving my canopy control overall. I'm sure I became a better and safer skydiver because I broke my leg.

And I've had lots of fun too, which is the whole point of jumping out of airplanes in the first place.

Your call if you want to come back or not, but your feelings are not unique.

Make sure you get to see friends and family and not get depressed and isolated while your leg heals. I know how it can be.

Take care and heal fast!

:)

Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet.

I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

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If you really want to jump again - you will
If you're looking for an excuse to stop jumping - you'll find that too.

With over 100 jumps you already know that you like the sport. Your feelings of apprehension are normal. I have metal in my leg from a skydiving accident too and questioned whether I should "quit while I'm ahead" or continue with the madness. Turns out that I jump more now that before the incident.

After you heal go back out to the dz. If you still have the urge then make a jump. You'll be kinda scared until after the landing but then you'll realize why you do this crazy sport in the first place.

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I really appreciate the comments and positive feedback. I just need to hear that I'm not alone in feeling this way and that it is possible to get over this hurdle. I live with whuffos so they don't really understand why I'm upset about it and how I might feel conflicted over jumping. I need to stay plugged in to the skydiving community right now, especially since I'm not able to get out there to jump. You guys are one of the many reasons I love this sport.
There are three types of people in this world. Those who can count and those who can't.

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Hey Xtine

About a year and half ago, I was on a headdown jump and with out getting in to the details some one went flat and I hit him head on, i managed to deploy and drifted down. I broke my neck smashed my nose and had some damaged to my throat. Even to this day it is on my mind every time i leave the door, Took me a wile before i was comfortable jumping in groups again, But this crazy sport is in my blood and didnt think twice about getting back in the saddle, I just pushed on. What im trying to say is, If you really love this sport i think you should push on, Because the fun, pleasure and friends you make in this sport out weigh the risks 10 fold.

I wish you the best and be safe!

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16 years ago I lost a friend and mentor to a skydiving accident. The feeling at the time was that he couldn't have POSSIBLY made a mistake because he was one of the safest skydivers I had ever met. Very conservative, thoughtful and logical.

However, the subsequent inquest did show that he was given a bad situation, and made a series of bad calls.

So, while the accident didn't happen to me personally, I was seriously spooked by it all. I didn't stop jumping, but that year I made less than 50 jumps. Deep thought and risk evaluations as mentioned by people above, plus the chances of certain rewards were all taken into consideration. I came back stronger than before and the past 16 years have been marvelous. For me - it was the right call. And I'll keep on jumping until I can't.

Your life is still largely ahead. Now, with this injury, you're appreciating better the risks that we take.

If you choose to "get back in the saddle", learn as much as you can in your down time. Take courses, attend seminars. Listen to the grumpy old farts. Even they have nuggets of wisdom from time to time.

But this is your call and yours alone. Don't do it because someone wants you to. Do it, or not, because it's what YOU want to do.

Either way, we'll understand and support you.
Mike Ashley
D-18460
Canadian A-666

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I really appreciate the comments and positive feedback. I just need to hear that I'm not alone in feeling this way and that it is possible to get over this hurdle. I live with whuffos so they don't really understand why I'm upset about it and how I might feel conflicted over jumping. I need to stay plugged in to the skydiving community right now, especially since I'm not able to get out there to jump. You guys are one of the many reasons I love this sport.



Definitely don't listen to your whuffo friends, you are doing the right thing asking the skydivers. You mind if I ask what happened to you?
Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane? Cause the door was open!

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