Laverne Everett did not think her first skydive would end up like this.
She wanted to celebrate her 80th birthday with a bit of excitement, but the jump went horribly wrong when she almost fell out of her harness during the dive. Here’s the video:
She defended her instructor against criticism he pushed her against her will.
“The upper harness came off, you know,” she said in a recent interview with CBS Sacramento, available below. “Just slipped down, it was just the lower harness, is all I had.”
“This happened a long time ago and everything worked as advertised,” said Parachute Center owner Bill Dause in a statement to ABC News. “No one got hurt or injured.”
So, still feel like jumping? It hasn’t deterred Laverne from excitement. She now wants to drive in a race car.
Here’s her interview:
Comments
8 Comments so far
I see footage such as this and know why I don’t skydive !
My father was killed persuing this passtime, and even though that happened quite a while back this video brings it all back to me as if it occurred yesterday. All I can say is thank Christ that the tandem diver she was hooked to held on.
Damned freaky !
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furthermore, I think the harness went from the shoulders down to between the legs.. There’s no way they could say she was sufficiently secured in this case
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I did a tandem jump in NZ a few years ago. Firstly, they made everyone wear a one piece jumpsuit which you couldnt slip out of, secondly, they checked our straps about 3 times from when we first put them on to just before leaving the plane, thirdly, when leaving the plane, they made us hold on to the straps..
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Oh my god!! That is ENTIRELY the fault of the instructor – if her harness had been properly put on and checked, it would never have happened!! Nor should he have forced her out of the plane!!
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The music is kind of inappropriate…
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Oh my! I’m so glad I didn’t see this before doing my jump. I don’t think I would’ve gone through with it. My heart’s still pounding.
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agreed!
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AARGH! Luckily I’ve done all the skydiving I want to in my life.. don’t want to be thinking about that when I jump out of a plane at speed!
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