Close Call of the Day: Australian Man Has Seizure While Skydiving

Christopher Jones was skydiving last November in Australia when he had a seizure in mid-air rendering him unconscious and unable to open his parachute.

Fortunately WA Skydiving Academy instructor Sheldon McFarlane was able make his way over to the man and pull the cord for him. There were also a few automated backups installed which would have triggered eventually, but McFarlane didn’t want to risk it.

The terrifying moment was all captured on video with the instructor’s helmet cam and already has over 4 million views since it was posted to YouTube over the weekend.

Jones always wanted to be a pilot, but this was not possible because of his epilepsy. He had been seizure-free for a number of years, he decided to try skydiving instead.

“I’ve always wanted to have the feeling of flight, so I just thought, considering I can’t fly a plane due to my condition, I thought I’d give it a go,” he said.