pccoder

thanks everyone for all the comments and concerns. I will certainly take it all into consideration. PcCoder.net

I agree, the thought has crossed my mind..considering that both happened while I was asleep, etc. What concerns me so much, being an admitted control freak, is that I would have blown off the 1st seizure to bad luck, a long day of jumps, who knows, but now that I have had two I am concerned that it will happen again. Not if so much as when. And, although my doctor has cleared me to drive given the same reasons we are discussing here (both happening at night while not medicated), I can't say that I am not concious now every time I get behind the wheel. I am confident in myself, but not so sure about when this could happen again. PcCoder.net

thanks PcCoder.net

I started jumping about 3 years ago. After about 50 jumps I had a grand mal seizure in my sleep one evening. I started taking an anti-convulsant as all tests (CT Scan, MRI, EEG, etc.) showed nothing out of the ordinary. I continued to jump for another year and did a low turn which resulted in some compression fractures in my thoracic spine. I stopped jumping altogether while I healed for the next year. In December of 2005 (after a year of no jumping) my doctor allowed me to stop taking the anti-convulsant medicine. Another 5 months passed before I returned and did one skydive in May of 2006. Last weekend I had another Grand Mal seizure in my sleep and was rushed to the hospital again. I am back on the meds and will more than likely continue to be for now on. I struggled with the idea of returning to skydiving for so long after my accident and now I have the excuse I always needed to just walk away. I am saddened by this as I always loved jumping however it seems that the risk is too great now, especially having been hurt doing this in the past. Another downer is that I have about $7000 worth of equipment that I will need to sell. I have a brand new Pro Track that I received for Xmas 2 years ago and have never used. I bought all brand new equipment 20 jumps before my low turn injury so it is all virtually brand new still. Two jump suits, 4 or 5 sets of goggles, Bonehead helmet, altimeter, gloves, you name it. It's a real shame but I can't imagine how bad it would be having a seizure in freefall or under canopy. PcCoder.net

I know this sucks, but with any injury you expect to go through a healing period which will usually be much longer than you hope. Just because you are able to get up and around doesn't mean that the injury is healed completely. Pain is your bodies way of informing you to slow down. PcCoder.net

I started jumping in 2002 and fell in love with it. I was at the wind tunnel all the time and jumping as much as I could. Quickly downsized to a 170 within a short period of time and found myself attempting a hook turn which consequently had me bouncing off the ground with 3 broken vertebrae. .....that was almost 1 1/2 years ago. And, I have not returned. I really want to, but still afraid. My point is that you should consider getting something alot less aggresive than everyone seems to fly these days. And, don't be a bonehead like I was and try things you shouldn't be trying. PcCoder.net

hey, long time...how's it been? PcCoder.net

[replyI find it hard to believe you lose altitude more quickly under a high speed malfunction than you do at terminal velocity. Even a malfunctioned canopy provides drag to slow you down somewhat. If I am on my belly falling at 120 mph, deploy into a bag lock, now I am underneath a very high speed malfunction no longer on my belly falling faster than when I was in freefall. I would imagine that almost any high speed malfunction where I am no longer horizontal to the earth will result in my speeding up rather than slowing down. Yes, the canopy will provide drag, but there are plenty of scenarios where the drag will not null out the added fall rate. PcCoder.net

IF YOU PRACTICE. I always went through the motions, on every jump. But somehow forgot about that whole "peel the cutaway handle from the velcro" part of the procedure and struggled with that for a few seconds on mine. PcCoder.net

another factor you should consider...if you are experiencing a high speed malfunction you are loosing altitude more quickly than you were when you were terminal. Your time to cutaway and safely deploy your reserve becomes directly affected by this. PcCoder.net

I understand that. I haven't gone back yet from a landing accident last November. I do intend to return, but that time seems to keep extending further and further out. It's funny how hitting the ground nice and hard can really make you think. PcCoder.net

Please slow down and listen to the other more experienced jumpers comments in this thread (not talking about me). You will not be alive to keep posting if you continue on the path to higher performance with no experience. In fact, I'd be jumping an even larger canopy than what you are jumping now if I were you. PcCoder.net

Understood, however the rain is the real issue I am talking about. In fact, my recollection is that there is a certain amount of separation between clouds vertically and horizontally that the pilot must adhere to, and I am thinking given the way it looked last night, that rule was being ignored. PcCoder.net

I completely agree with you. I read some posts where people mentioned that it teaches students to more or less sharpen their skills so that when they do need to land in a tight spot they'll be able to do that. I can't say I agree with that completely. When you are new, there is enough to worry about other than imaginary lines, superstition and the like. I too have seen very experienced skydivers with 1000's of jumps pretty much eat shit at the end of long swoops over grass to avoid the pavement that's coming up in front of them. The concept of a beer line representing the "desired" landing area has its purpose. The concept of it being a problem if you happen to land outside of it needs to be looked at a little better on a case by case basis. PcCoder.net

At the Pepsi 400 in Daytona yesterday I witnessed 4 demo jumpers land in the main field in front of the main grandstand, pretty much right in front of us. The race was delayed a good two hours before starting because of the constant rain we were getting during that same time that the demo jumpers came in. Doesn't it seem a little unsafe to be doing demo jumps and what looked like 2500 ft hop n pops in such bad weather? I mean the 2nd group jumped with very dark gray clouds all over the place and rain coming down (not strong) but certainly constant. The jumper who carried in the American flag almost had little problem with his landing and slipped and landed on his butt. Being a skydiver I hate to see our sport be given a bad reputation when we try what seems to be unnecessary risk for the sake of 100,000 rednecks' viewing pleasure. Here is the First parachute to land. It was raining, although the photo doesn't show the rain. PcCoder.net

Surviving PcCoder.net

I began skydiving in March 2002 with a tandem, and then followed by 2 more tandems before going through AFF in Feb-April 2003 (all at Skydive Space Center). I am very satisfied with my experiences I have had here. The staff is always helpful, looking out for your safety, etc. Stacy is wonderful in Manifest and very appreciated as she goes beyond the call of duty sometimes to ensure that loads are constant. The occasional extra altitude is great too. Snore has great spots and is very friendly. Yoshi, Dean, Kenny, Kristin, Dan, Mark, Cliff are more than willing to answer my questions and put up with my nagging them constantly for new information and with help regarding learning a new skill. I look forward to getting back out there too. I've been out since turning low in Nov. 2004 (at SSC). I miss all of you. Thanks SSC, I always enjoy my time there.

???? These drugs imply that you've had seizures. How is holding off for a while going to help? PcCoder.net

Titusville is my home dropzone, and it's always great to hear comments like those you posted. I have been out of skydiving for the past 4 months from a landing injury, but reading your post reminds me so much of how lucky I have been to jump with so many great people. I can't wait to get back. PcCoder.net

Good for you. Use every bit of potential that larger canopy has. But, learn how to fly it from someone who can truly help. Don't just assume that because you are hanging underneath it that you know how to fly it. The canopy courses are a great idea. PcCoder.net

I don't know. I got the opportunity last year to fly a T6 Texan at an airshow for about 20 minutes. Of course, I did not land; however all the years of playing flight simulators certainly made it easier for me to fly the WWII plane as I had "trained" for so long on a simulator prior. PcCoder.net

me too. the problem with the paraglider is that the physics for how it flies and what level of control you have is very limited. additionally, it flies really slow. PcCoder.net

I've been driving cars (like most) since around age 15-16. So at going on 34 now I have been driving for roughly 19 years. In that time I have never had an accident, never hit another vehicle, never gotten a speeding ticket. I would attribute a great deal of that to luck. However; my father was very strict when he was teaching me to drive. Always having me look at my rear-view and side mirrors and knowing that they couldn't be fully trusted; that it was safer to use them as a guide for what was near me although not a replacement for turning my head around and looking for myself. In those 19 years that I have been driving I have had a few close calls; however most have been where I dodged out of the way of another driver who was determined to include me in his/her crash intentions. If I had to guess at what has kept me accident free during all that time; it has been that I have been overly cautious. In fact, I drive fast, often leading whatever pack of vehicles on the road that I am around. I rarely don't speed. I would be considered by most people who see me drive or have driven with me an overly aggresive drive. However, I keep my eyes open and NEVER push it past that 7/10's rule that another post mentioned. I have always left myself a little bit of room for error. PcCoder.net

Dean, Yoshi, Kristin, Cliff, Dan, Carolyn PcCoder.net

I'm not sure that directly answered my question. I guess I asked the question because there are people with low jump numbers < 100 and higher jump numbers > 1000 who appear to be staying relatively current; however still crashing and burning, or being complacent and doing the wrong thing, etc. What is it that is keeping you people with 1000's of jumps (Ed) safe in this sport for so long? I know of a guy at my local DZ who has been doing this for years, done commercials, high quality photographs (including the picture of his girlfriend and another jumper at my DZ falling out of the helicopter in one of last year's 'Parachutist' mags), around 11,000 jumps, tandem master, instructor, all the ratings, etc. has only had a few cutaways in that time and still is alive and kicking. What is the secret that is keeping these people from dying? Sometimes I wonder if you do this long enough...is it inevitable that something tragic will happen? ....however; if that is true, then why are there so many who continue to jump well into the thousands or ten thousands? PcCoder.net