First jump after an injury

[ScottTX 0]

My last jump was on September 30th, I really screwed it up, made a very hard landing, and got a badly bruised tailbone. It is healing well and I feel at this rate I should be able to jump again within the next few weeks.

My 1st six jumps I enjoyed, the thing is though, that I am really getting nervous now, maybe even a little bit scared about my first jump after injuring myself, not enough to stop me from jumping, I WILL JUMP AGAIN!.

Anyone have a story to tell about their 1st jump after an injury?, maybe I should try not to think about it so much, but I feel that reading about others who may have experienced the same thing would help.

Thanks

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[skyhpp 0]

Way back in the days of the dinosaurs (when men were men and women were glad of it....) I broke my arm in a landing incident on my very first jump with a square, having started on rounds. The bad landing was all my fault, thanks to my inexperience at the time.

Two months later I was back and really keen to get in the air again

So I was understandably "a little nervous" on my next jump - which thankfully went well!! As did the next one and the one after that.......very soon the mishaps were a distant memory, replaced by lots of new, positive experiences.

No need to worry - just persevere, and in next to no time you will be at an entirely new, higher level and proud of yourself for having worked through the problem.

[Ratty 0]

Jumping at a different dropzone for the first time I had a rather nasty canopy collapse at about 900 ft. Luckily the canopy reinflated and I landed safely.

I messed up my next 3 jumps purely because i was so nervous and stressed about my canopy ride instead of concentrating on my jump. I had previously trusted the student canopies, that was no longer true. I didn't want to get out the plane which even on my first jump I didn't have a problem with.

Now I'm happily jumping again without that intense fear
I'm sure your first jump back will be scary especially when it comes to the landing, but after a few jumps you'll be back into the swing of things and loving it again.

[timbarrett 0]

I banged into the desert after an asymmetric flare and compressed a couple of vertebra
so..
1) waited until felt completely healed - lots of exercise, stretching, yoga etc - more for the confidence than anything else
2) reviewed everything i could on landings - including this forum
3) spent a day at the DZ watching people land
4) picked a perfect wind day to jump ata a DZ with a massive landing area
5) jumped solo and pulled high so i could chill out and practice lots of flares. I identified a tendency to flare a bit asymetrically and tried a few flares focusing on correcting that
6) set up to land in the middle of the massive field with absolutely no-one/nothing else to think about
7) deep breath on final, relax..perfect stand-up landing
8)..normal service resumes

"Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

[chanti 0]

I broke my right femur in July and had my first jump back this past weekend. Check out my thread in the women's forum under "going back after injury"

-Chanti-

[cocheese 0]

Broke my foot one Christmas day in Florida from a bad crosswind landing by a ditch.

Jumped an hour later to "get back on the horse"... landing perfectly in the pea pit to prove i can do this.

Jumped New Years Eve... because you have to make a "day" jump if you want to make a night jump. Slid it in just fine.

Midnight New Year's Eve 99-2000 Millenium jump.
Made my dream of six years come true.... with a broken foot.


Just do everything right this time.

[Orange1 0]

I broke both my ankles back in Feb, and got back in the air when the doc said i was ready and when i felt i had enough flexibility... 6 months later. The whole week before I was really nervous but the actual day... driving out to the DZ, getting my recurrency briefing, kitting up, walking out, getting in the plane, take-off, climb, jump run, door open, exit... i kept on waiting to get really scared but it just never happened. It just all felt "right" (not to say i wasn't nervous at all - of course I was - but not nearly enough to qualify as "scared"). btw, the exit, jump and landing all went perfectly

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[Airman1270 0]

Broke ankle on first jump, static-line round, no PLF (also on September 30th.) Second jump was the following July. Very scared, but performed just fine. Was ready for the PLF at 1000'.

You'll be scared, sure, but not as much as you think. Happy skies!

Cheers,
Jon S.

[DougH 270]

A PLF will greatly reduce the chance of you busting your tailbone again jumping. When in doubt, I roll that shit out.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[mrGuy 0]

Scott, on my 10th jump, after becoming completely expert LOL on my perfect landings...haha....I screwed up and hit a ten foot high barbed-wired-topped security fence...no flair, full force into the top and just *stuck* to it.

It was a good learning experience. I learned that fences suck, and they should all be torn down and run over with tanks.

My left foot still feels weird sometimes, and I think now that I probably had a minor brake/crack somewhere...but the foot is sort of one of those things that you just leave a lone and it heals on its own. (imho)

Anyway, after most of the bleeding stopped on my lower body, I was jumping three weeks later.

Yeah, it was a weird experience to get back up there, but after I left the plane I forgot all my apprehension.

Just don't land on your ass anymore!

[legorowbot 0]

I did the same thing last weekend actually.... I did a low turn instead of taking the safer route of a crosswind landing and lucked out with just a bruised talibone and a sore back. Very hard landing, one of the instructors told me it looked like i bounced 10 feet in the air
I haven't jumped again yet cause my back is still a little sore, but in another week or two I'll be back up there. At first I kicked myself pretty hard for screwing up so badly, but once I got over that I learned as much as I could from the jump and I won't make the same mistake again.
I don't have a first jump after injury story yet, but don't worry too much about your last jump... it's in the past. Learn from it and move on to the next jump
-Geoff

Why does it say "Append signature to post" when I don't have a signature?

[ScottTX 0]

Thanks everyone, it helps listening to others who have gone thru this.

I went out to the dz today, had the opportunity to talk at length with one of the AFF instructors, review my previous jumps, and get some very helpful input on how to improve on my "comeback jump".

He demonstated and discussed PLF's and I had the chance to practice several of them.

I feel much more confident about the next jump than I did before
I hope the dz will include PLF's in the skydiving course, and require ALL students to demonstrate PLF's prior to any jump.

I had intended to jump tomorrow (Saturday), however based on the instructors suggestion I will hold off for a while longer, the tailbone is still sore .