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Thread: the first paraplegic to BASE jump on his own from a cliff in Kjerag, Norway

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    the first paraplegic to BASE jump on his own from a cliff in Kjerag, Norway

    Video: No legs, only wings... Dubai's amazing paraplegic skydiving pro
    "I am extremely lucky to be alive," says Jarrett Martin, "Doctors said I couldn't walk again, they didn't say I couldn't skydive"

    By Amal Al Jabry
    Published Tuesday, October 07, 2014



    23-year-old Jarrett Martin, paralysed from the chest down, is a professional skydiver and base jumper.
    “Does anything ever scare you?” I asked Jarrett Martin.
    “No, not really, I try not to be scared of anything, I try to assess the risks and deal with them accordingly, I’m not afraid of dying either.”
    Paralysed from the chest down, 23-year-old Jarrett, American, is a professional skydiver and base jumper who has made more than 3000 jumps and counting.




    (Jarrett Martin courtesy Mason Holden)


    Speaking to Emirates24|7, he added, “What I look for is having a good time, and right now in my life having a good time is like having great risks versus great rewards.”
    Working as a Master Rigger at Skydive Dubai, Jarrett said he would never stop doing what he loves, even with the risks.
    “With skydiving the risk is becoming injured or death but the reward is the amazing experience you get in the sky when you’re falling and the feeling of the acceleration.”
    Jarrett has been skydiving since he was 9-years-old, and he’s been hooked on it ever since.




    (Jarrett Martin courtesy Mason Holden)



    Trained as a pilot and immersing himself in aviation sports, Jarrett was at the height of his skydiving career, until he faced a life-changing accident at the age of 18.
    It left Jarrett with a broken back, a torn aorta, damaged lungs and kidney and paralysed from the chest down.
    “I was in Hawaii doing a parachuting stunt, not like skydiving at all, the only similarity was the parachute, and skydiving involves you jumping out an airplane, but this stunt involved jumping off a cliff, when I was 200 feet in the air my parachute collapsed, and it instantly dropped me about 70 metres or so, right on a mountain face, the only thing that saved me was that it was steep, and I bounced down the mountain, my back broke and it was an instant paralysis, suffered a whole bunch of injuries.”
    Jarrett was in a coma for about nearly a week, and when he woke up the doctors said he was lucky to be alive, but they also told him that he would never walk again.
    A reality that Jarrett found devastating, as this was his first major injury.





    But six months later, his cravings returned.
    “When I was first injured, you get through the depression stage, but then after that, you ask yourself are you going to stay depressed or do something awesome? For me, I decided to continue skydiving.”
    Dedicated and committed, Jarrett did not allow the accident to change his energy and determination in continuing his passion.
    He's made a small change to his landing technique.
    "Nothing special,' he said. "I use a strap to keep my legs from flopping around in freefall and on landing I just slide in on my belly."




    He took part in several skydiving events which led him to compete at the 4th Dubai International Parachuting Championships at Skydive Dubai last year.
    Being a paraplegic, Jarrett became the first in the history of skydiving competitions.
    After having jumped over 300 times unassisted, Jarrett’s inspirational story has gone global.
    It has also been made into a popular documentary titled ‘Sky High: The true story of a paraplegic skydiver’.
    The film depicts Jarrett’s real life experiences, all very real, and also includes the video he took himself during his parachuting misfortune.




    “I remember all the details even before I saw the footage, because I was quite conscious throughout the accident.”
    He continued, “it’s interesting to look back on it now and hear the audio and see the visuals and see that those were my last steps that I was taking, the audio is haunting because if no one came in the time that they did I would have definitely died up there, I was gasping for my last breath.”
    Even after all that he’s been through, why would Jarrett still encourage others to take part in such a dangerous activity?
    “Makes you think what is dangerous, for instance driving here in Dubai is one of the most dangerous places to drive in the world, and I’d like to see the statistics of someone getting killed skydiving and someone getting killed in a car accident.”
    He added, “99.9% of skydivers will say this is the greatest thing they’ve ever done, and I think everyone should try it once at least to experience it.
    “There are so many safety measures, things can happen, but then things can happen when you’re walking down the street. I met a girl who was a quadriplegic, she couldn’t move her arms, she could only blink her eyes, open her mouth and flare her nostrils, and she was in the kitchen cooking, she felt lightheaded, fell back and knocked her head and neck on the kitchen counter and instantly got paralysed.”
    Not one to let his disabilities get in his way, Jarrett Martin hopes his story will inspire other disabled jumpers to take up or continue skydiving.





    The American recently spent his summer in Norway and nabbed another title to his name - the first paraplegic to BASE jump on his own from a cliff in Kjerag, Norway.

    Jarrett also accomplished an extraordinary 11 jumps in three days when he took part in a “base jumping boogie” along with over 250 jumpers in attendance.
    With numerous (and continuing) appearances in magazines and TV shows, Jarrett hopes his story will encourage other disabled jumpers to take up or continue skydiving. He is passionate about motivating people to get out of their “mundane routine and do something exceptional.”





    Does Jarrett ever have time to sit home and relax?

    Jarrett explains, “After work, I try to continue living an adventurous life, I might do some indoor skydiving, or go to the beach with friends, or I might go swimming, lately I’ve been doing some scuba diving, that’s been an activity of mine, I try to keep it busy, life is too short to waste it away.”
    Last edited by airdog07; October 24th, 2014 at 03:23 PM.

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