If you are a wheelchair user and want to skydive, you don’t have to let your wheels hold you back! Here are two stories that will inspire you to take your thrills to new heights.
Randy, a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic, knew he wanted to make his skydiving dreams a reality. So he came up with an ingenious way to skydive while still keeping the air flowing to his lungs. “I went to a scuba diving store and bought a regulator and a small scuba diving tank,” shares Randy. “And I made it so I could hook it up straight to my trach.” Randy successfully pulled off a tandem jump while on his modified ventilator!
Wheelchair user Kim wanted to try skydiving despite all of her friends being too scared to try themselves. But that didn’t stop Kim. She was intrigued by the freedom that skydiving offered. “It’s the freedom that I’ve been looking for,” shares Kim – something she hadn’t felt since her injury. “The freedom in that situation, from being out of a wheelchair and no constraints on you at all is something you just can’t describe.”
Watch the video to see Randy’s and Kim’s jumps! And also hear some heartfelt words from Dana Reeve in the introduction on the importance of continuing to live life to the fullest after a spinal cord injury.