Skydiver Survives Unconscious Fall After Mid-Air Collision at 10,000 Feet

Holly Wiffen, a 35-year-old dental therapist from Okehampton, Devon, survived a fall during a group skydive after another jumper collided with her at about 10,000 feet, according to Mirror Weird News. The incident occurred on August 7 above Langar airfield near Nottingham. Wiffen had left the aircraft at 12,000 feet with a group taking part in “tracking,” a form of freefall in which participants dive horizontally. During the jump, another skydiver’s leg struck her head, causing her to lose consciousness. Wiffen was unable to deploy her main parachute as she fell. Footage reportedly showed her descending at about 150 mph while another skydiver attempted to reach her. That person was unable to intervene and opened his own parachute at roughly 3,000 feet above the ground. According to Wiffen’s account, she somehow pulled her ripcord at around 1,000 feet. Her reserve parachute also deployed automatically, but the two parachutes reportedly created a “downplane” effect that increased her speed from about 40 mph to 50 mph. Rather than striking the ground, Wiffen hit a conifer tree. She told The Sun that she has no memory of the fall and regained consciousness on the ground beneath the tree. The landing left her with a fractured spine, a broken left leg and bruising. Wiffen said the tree prevented a potentially fatal impact with the ground. She also recalled that the fall took place near buildings, power lines and a main road, all of which she avoided. Despite the injuries and the severity of the accident, Wiffen said she intends to skydive again. She also acknowledged the risks involved, saying that two of her friends had died at a Devon airfield during the previous two years.