Woman survives 15,000ft skydive after parachute fails to open

A woman who fell 15,000 feet after her parachute failed to open has survived and can remember the whole thing from start to terrifying finish.

For some people, skydiving is the ultimate adrenaline rush and last year a 104-year-old woman broke the world record by becoming the oldest person to jump out of a plane.

But, for Emma Carey from Australia who was 20 at the time, the daring act left her with life-changing injuries after the parachute malfunctioned during a skydive in the Swiss Alps.

The skydive was a dream of Carey’s, who was busy ticking life goals off her bucket list, but it soon turned into a hellish nightmare after the parachute that was attached to her and the instructor malfunctioned after they jumped from the plane.

Carey and the instructor fell 4.5km from the sky and crashed into the ground below. Miraculously, both of them survived the fall, but Carey was paralysed from the waist down.

Despite the rapid fall, Carey was conscious the whole time and can recall the events in vivid detail.

She explained to 7News: “I was never knocked unconscious. So I remember the fall, I remember landing, I remember the moment I realised I was paralysed – all of it.

“The first thing I felt when I hit the ground was just overwhelming pain in my whole body. I didn’t know where it was coming from, I’ve never felt anything like it.”

A rescue chopper transferred them both to hospital and Carey’s broken back and pelvis were operated on.

Though the incident was harrowing, Carey explained that the moment she thought she was going to die changed her perspective on everything.

She explained: “I know how it feels. To think I only have ten seconds left to live and now I get the rest of my life, whatever that is, so I think it’s actually really nice for me to have that memory because it helps to keep me grateful.

“Life really changed from that moment on and I also feel like every day from that date is just extra time that I get to live, so I should celebrate that.”

Despite being told she would never walk again, the feeling in her legs began to slowly return and today, she is able to walk independently.

She released a book titled The Girl who Fell from the Sky in which she writes about her remarkable experience.

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