Post by Len on Jan 10, 2007 16:59:23 GMT -5
A pregnant topless skydiver slammed into a parking lot at 50 miles per hour when both her parachutes failed and lived to tell the tale. To cut her some slack she didn't realize she was pregnant when she jumped--but she did know she was topless. She made the jump to raise money for breast cancer research. She sustained injuries to her face, pelvis and leg but it appears the unborn baby was uninjured.
From Ryan Parry Us Correspondent In New York
A SKYDIVER who crashed 10,000ft to earth when both her chutes failed survived along with her unborn baby.
Shayna Richardson, 21, who has jumped topless for a breast cancer charity, didn't know she was pregnant when she did her 10th dive.
Instructor boyfriend Rick West jumped with her and was videotaping when Shayna spun out of control.
She landed face down in a car park, hitting the ground at 50mph. Her face was shattered and her pelvis and right leg broken but tough Shayna was able to sit up and talk. She said: "It really has been a miracle." She thought she was going to die when her emergency parachute didn't work - a one in a million fluke - jumping over Siloam Springs, Arkansas in October.
She had heard a snap as her main chute failed to open. Rick watched helpless as she plummeted towards the ground.
Shayna said: "I wasn't screaming or yelling. I just spun all the way to the ground and I knew in my heart and mind that I was going to die. I just thought, please God, don't make this hurt.
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"In the hit, I egg-shelled my entire face. Everything got egg-shelled. I broke my pelvis in two places and I broke my leg.''
Shayna, from Joplin, Missouri, said: "I know it sounds crazy, but for what I did I am still going to call them minor injuries.
"I don't remember hitting the ground, but everyone said I was sitting up and talking to people."
She spent four days in hospital before having surgery to fix her face.
She said it was hard to tell anyone of her joy over the pregnancy because surgeons wired her jaw shut for two months.
They also cut open her face from ear to ear and peeled back the skin to remove the shattered bones and replace them with metal plates.
"I looked like a deformed mutant for a long time but now my scars are going and the swelling is going down," she said.
Shayna said she would never have jumped if she had known she was expecting a baby.
"To hit the ground belly first - that's dangerous," she said.
"I mean at any stage of pregnancy that's dangerous. That's not something you want to do let alone at 50 miles per hour."
After four operations, Shayna is on the mend and her baby is growing normally and is due on June 25.
Shayna, who took up parachuting in May and has only done four solo jumps, hopes to be back in the sky by August.
She said: "I've always wanted to do it. The crazier the ride, the more danger involved, the more I always wanted to do everything. I like the adrenaline rush of doing it solo."
From Ryan Parry Us Correspondent In New York
A SKYDIVER who crashed 10,000ft to earth when both her chutes failed survived along with her unborn baby.
Shayna Richardson, 21, who has jumped topless for a breast cancer charity, didn't know she was pregnant when she did her 10th dive.
Instructor boyfriend Rick West jumped with her and was videotaping when Shayna spun out of control.
She landed face down in a car park, hitting the ground at 50mph. Her face was shattered and her pelvis and right leg broken but tough Shayna was able to sit up and talk. She said: "It really has been a miracle." She thought she was going to die when her emergency parachute didn't work - a one in a million fluke - jumping over Siloam Springs, Arkansas in October.
She had heard a snap as her main chute failed to open. Rick watched helpless as she plummeted towards the ground.
Shayna said: "I wasn't screaming or yelling. I just spun all the way to the ground and I knew in my heart and mind that I was going to die. I just thought, please God, don't make this hurt.
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"In the hit, I egg-shelled my entire face. Everything got egg-shelled. I broke my pelvis in two places and I broke my leg.''
Shayna, from Joplin, Missouri, said: "I know it sounds crazy, but for what I did I am still going to call them minor injuries.
"I don't remember hitting the ground, but everyone said I was sitting up and talking to people."
She spent four days in hospital before having surgery to fix her face.
She said it was hard to tell anyone of her joy over the pregnancy because surgeons wired her jaw shut for two months.
They also cut open her face from ear to ear and peeled back the skin to remove the shattered bones and replace them with metal plates.
"I looked like a deformed mutant for a long time but now my scars are going and the swelling is going down," she said.
Shayna said she would never have jumped if she had known she was expecting a baby.
"To hit the ground belly first - that's dangerous," she said.
"I mean at any stage of pregnancy that's dangerous. That's not something you want to do let alone at 50 miles per hour."
After four operations, Shayna is on the mend and her baby is growing normally and is due on June 25.
Shayna, who took up parachuting in May and has only done four solo jumps, hopes to be back in the sky by August.
She said: "I've always wanted to do it. The crazier the ride, the more danger involved, the more I always wanted to do everything. I like the adrenaline rush of doing it solo."
