It was jump number 178 and I was doing tricks in the air with my friend who was jumping a tandem jump with a new client.
I got into a spin on my back and couldn’t muster the strength to bend my elbow to pull out of it.
It wasn’t until I was about ten seconds from impact that I was able to bend my elbow and flip over to open my chute. I had to slow my spin down and it takes five seconds for the chute to open so I ended up opening two seconds before impact. Now I prefer to work on my HVAC system and do things around the house as opposed to trying to end my life in the sky. I learned a lot from that incident and it forever altered the course of my life. I became an HVAC technician and sold my chute and stopped with all of the death defying acts I once did for the thrill of it. I started doing stand up comedy for a thrill and continued with that for about 17 years. Now I have my own air conditioning and heating repair service which gives me just enough money to get by. I think I work about 10 or 12 hours a week and now have time to relax more and do the things I enjoy, like waking up without an annoying alarm clock. I need to buy a new AC filter today as mine is old and I also want to get a HEPA filter to help with my allergies.