Holly Wiffen jumped from the plane as she had 425 times before. This time, another skydiver struck her on the head just seconds after the jump, over Langar airfield, near Nottingham, England, on August 7.
She was knocked unconscious in midair. Her body fell in freefall for nearly 12,000 feet without her being able to open her parachute. She regained some consciousness just in time to deploy the main parachute at 1,000 feet, and the reserve opened at only 500 feet above the ground, creating a combination that made her descend between 40 and 50 miles per hour.
A conifer tree slowed what should have ended in tragedy. Wiffen, a 35-year-old dental therapist from Devon, broke one leg and fractured her spine. Six days later, a metal rod was placed in her leg during surgery. She is miraculously still alive, and there is still no clear explanation of how she managed to regain consciousness at the exact moment she needed to.
