15,000 feetIt was a nice day over Lake Taupo, New Zealand, at the beginning of our summer. For a while, it was just another sky dive. When you jump out of a plane, you're in a cushion of air. You never seem to feel like you are falling, and this was just like the seven thousand other jumps I'd done. I was filming some of the other sky divers.4,000 feetI was about to open my first parachute when I realized there was a problem: I was spinning around. That wasn't normal. I pulled the release cable. Normally, this would fling me away from the parachute, and I'd have to regain stability and then open the reserve. But nothing changed. The chute was snagged.3,000 feetI was a spinning mess, falling fast. It was like something had a hold of me from my lower back and I was being twirled from that point. The more I tried to get on my back, the faster I would spin. My arms, legs, and head felt like they were being pulled away from me.2,000 feetI tried to get on my back so I could see what the problem was. I was looking at my altimeter. I remember seeing the lake. And the ground. And the car park. I did eighty-six rotations. Anyone could get dizzy in that situation, but something took over. I was aware of everything.1,000 feetI pulled the reserve, and I started spinning faster, like I was a passenger on an out-of-control ride. I realized I'd done absolutely everything I could. And I knew that was it for me. I was over the lake, and the sensible part of me knew that if I landed in the water, I would die. But when you've got no hope, you think maybe the water will be all right. But then I thought, No, I'll die! Then I was blown over onto the land. The last thing I thought was, Oh, great, I'm going to hit the bloody parking lot of all places.550 feetI remembered I had a camera on my head and waved in front of it to whoever would be seeing the footage. And then I thought I might as well say goodbye or say something. But before I had time to think of family and friends or see my life flash before my eyes, all that came out of my mouth was, "Oh, sh**. I'm dead. Bye." That just blurted out. It was all over. It all happened so quickly.250 feetThere wasn't really terror. It was more just helplessness. It's like if you were driving a car, and you went into a tunnel, and it was a dead end. Then your brakes failed. What are you going to do? There's nothing left to do besides brace yourself for impact and possible death.5 feetI pretty much remember all the way till the second before I hit. I landed in a blackberry bush. On the video, you can see my hands go out, almost to save myself. I guess that was just instinct. I don't actually remember hitting the ground. I impacted on my side, and that sent a shock wave through my whole body and knocked me out cold. I was severely bruised on the left side of my body and swollen pretty much everywhere. I had cuts on my face and my body, a collapsed and punctured right lung, and a broken ankle. And when I hit the ground, it was like I was dead. It was like I'd been turned off.
