СОКРАТИТЕ ДО МИНИМУМА, ПЛИЗ! “Deadmike” . I've just done my first jump since accident that nearly killed me just over a…

СОКРАТИТЕ ДО МИНИМУМА, ПЛИЗ! “Deadmike” . I've just done my first jump since accident that nearly killed me just over a year ago. As I was lying in hospitalafter the accident, I wasn't feeling glad to be alive. Instead, I was wondering how I could possibly live withoutskydiving again. It all started one evening after another typical nine-to-five day. I was sitting at home thinking "There has to bemore to life than this", when an advert came on the television. "Try skydiving", it said. The next day, I calledmy local skydiving centre and booked my first jump. At the end of a day's training, I signed a document tosay that I understood I was taking part in an activity that could end in serious injury. At that moment Iwondered if I was completely mad. I will never forget my first jump. Five of us walked to the runway and got into a tiny plane. I was beginning tofeel nervous, but the others were chatting and joking, and I started to feel more relaxed. It was a beautiful,cloudless day and the sun was just going down. We climbed to eleven thousand feet, and then the trainer opened the plane door. Suddenly, it was time tojump, and as I pushed myself away from the plane, my mind went back. Words cannot describe the rush of adrenalin I experienced while I was free-falling. At five thousand and fivehundred feet I pulled the cord, and the parachute opened immediately. Suddenly, everything was silent andpeaceful. Twice I shouted, “This is absolutely incredible! ” . It was the most amazing four minutes of my life. From the first jump, I was hooked. I started spending every free moment I had skydiving. It became myreason for living, and nothing else mattered. Things were going very well. Then disaster struck on my one thousand fortieth jump. Another skydivercollided with my parachute. I fell and hit the ground at about thirty mph. I broke both legs, my right foot, leftelbow, right arm, my nose and my jaw. I lost ten pints of blood, nineteen teeth and twenty five pounds of fat.I was lucky to survive. People who have never experienced skydiving will find it hard to understand that my only motivation to getbetter was so that I could do it again. All I can say is that for me, skydiving is life, and life is skydiving.