Skydiving survivor made one mistake after her parachute failed to open
A woman who remarkably survived a skydiving disaster has detailed the one mistake she made after her parachute failed to open.
It was back in November 2021 when Jordan Hatmaker dreamt of getting her skydiving licence.
By then, she'd done a handful of tandem jumps and 15 solo jumps, and skydiving had become a real hobby.
"I was in love," Jordan wrote in her book The Girl Who Fell from The Sky. "From the adrenaline rush of jumping out of a plane at 13,500 feet above the ground, to the great sense of accomplishment after landing."
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She added: "Between 2015 and 2020 I did five tandem jumps, each time falling more and more in love with the sport. In 2020, I had a couple of friends decide to get their skydiving licenses, so I thought it’d be the perfect time to get mine as well."
For those unfamiliar with the world of skydiving, getting your skydiving license allows you to make solo skydives at any drop zone without supervision.
And on 14 November, 2021, Jordan had gone up for her second and last jump of the day to gain more experience for the license.
In her book, she described the sunny Sunday afternoon as 'ideal' for skydiving, but tragedy would strike next.
Speaking to UNILAD, Jordan realized she was in difficulty 'as soon as I pulled my parachute'.
This led to the 37-year-old, from Virgina Beach, VA, going into 'survival/strategy mode'.
So, what exactly happened?
Jordan explained: "The pilot chute, a smaller parachute that pulls out your main canopy (parachute), was completely wrapped around my leg. My leg was suspended in the air as I continued to free fall with nothing to slow me down."
Just 20 seconds passed from the moment Jordan released the chord to when she crashed into the ground at an estimated speed of around 80mph, but she admitted it 'felt way longer'
"I was just thinking that the ground was coming up very quickly and it was going to be a painful landing," she tells UNILAD.
"I did not think I was going to die. I just thought it was going to hurt."
Despite the fall, Jordan remained fully conscious while she was airlifted to hospital.
"They gave me ketamine in order to get me into the helicopter. I remember flying through a kaleidoscope of changing shapes and colors," she said.
"When I came to, there were two flight paramedics smiling above me and I asked if I was 'alive, dead, or in a third dimension'."
Recalling the tragic incident now, Jordan admits there's one mistake she made.
"Looking back, I should’ve immediately deployed my reserve parachute upon realizing something was wrong," she explains.
Because of the fall, Jordan broke five vertebrae in her spine and sustained a spinal cord injury.
On top of that, Jordan tells us how she sustained a relatively rare, high-impact fracture called a pilon fracture.
She went on: "The spinal cord injury has caused internal organ dysfunction and numbness in parts of my body."
Recently, Jordan celebrated the two-year anniversary of her being able to walk unaided with a hike.
She penned on Instagram: "Celebrating my 2 year anniversary of being able to walk on my own with some hiking & bouldering. Forever grateful for my mobility."
So, having been confronted with death, what advice does Jordan have for others about life?
"DO EVERYTHING! Don’t put off your bucket list items," she said.
Jordan has been following her own advice since her incident, and in September did a tandem skydive. She's said she would 'love' to return to the skies soon.
"You never know when life is going to change or end," Jordan added. "When I was in the hospital a persistent thought was if I can never walk again. I am so happy I have lived life to the fullest thus far."
UNILAD’s Survivors series sheds light on different survival experiences and the lessons learned from facing death. New interviews will be released daily beginning May 20.
Callum Jones