Teen Survives 3,500 Foot Skydiving Incident

DALLAS — It's a story that can only be described as miraculous: A 16-year-old girl falls 3,000 feet from a plane in a skydiving accident and lives to tell the tale.

North Texas teen Makenzie Wethington begged her parents to allow her to skydive as a 16th birthday present, reports Today.com. But during the Jan. 25 jump at a skydiving school in Chickasha, Oklahoma with her father, something went terribly wrong.

Makenzie's canopy malfunctioned and the first-time skydiver couldn't manage to deploy a reserve parachute. Her father, Joe Wethington, who had jumped ahead of her and was safely on the ground, was forced to live a parent's worst nightmare as he watched his daughter plummet two-thirds of a mile and land on the grass nearby.

“It’s not that I’ve never seen these incredible or miraculous cases in the past," said Dr. Seema R. Sikka, who is overseeing Makenzie’s care at the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas, at a news conference on Monday. "In her case it’s pretty incredible that she came out of this with injuries that she could heal from."

"She is doing well. She's had multiple traumas but actually has been staying in good spirits," said Sikka, who added that the hospital was still evaluating her injuries, which include damage to her liver and a broken pelvis, lumbar spine in her lower back, shoulder blade, several ribs and teeth.

http://www.weather.com/news/texas-teen-survives-3000-foot-fall-skydiving-accident-20140203

amazing

Impossible. Maximum velocity at her weight would result in death - not gonna read entirely, but it's a life either have her shoot was open, or she landed in water/jelo

weight has nothing to do with maximum velocity. what's strange is why would a 1st time skydiver jump solo. don't they usually do tandem jumps for noobs?

That's amazing..

If you had actually finished the article, it explains what happened.

Correct, I was confusing velocity with the rate at which she would hit the ground.

It's strange they allowed her to jump by herself. Here in Florida all non-licened/virgins have to be accompanied by someone with an x-amount of dive time.

Dont tell me what to do Mmm-kay.

It would still kill her even if it were water or jelo.

You the shock absorption properties of jello?

yup. i think the rules are similar here ( ny ).. the article did say she completed a 6hr training course. i guess that's sufficient assuming nothing goes wrong..

parachutes still malfunction?? wtf

"Makenzie later told her father she blacked out during the fall, but she was conscious after crashing to the ground" I lol'ed.

Somebody get Bill Nye on the phone so we can get an explanation of how this is scientifically possible please.

I remember that story of the skydiver who survived such a fall with only a broken nose.

How would you explain it?

@Master_Live: I don't know. This is something I always thought was, "you fall from that high and you're done".

@-paranorman-: If you land just right, you can survive it. Of course there are other factors, as well, but it does happen. Obviously rare, but certainly not unheard-of.