Woman survives 15,000 foot fall after parachute malfunction

Like many adventurous spirits, skydiving was on 20-year-old Australian Emma Carey's bucket list. Although skydiving is generally safe, accidents can occasionally occur. During her first jump from 15,000 feet, Carey and her instructor's parachute failed to open, sending them plummeting. Miraculously, both Carey and her instructor survived the fall despite her sustaining serious injuries. Following the incident, Carey was paralyzed from the waist down, drastically altering her life, according to Indy100.

Carey, conscious during the fall, experienced immense pain. In her Instagram post, she shared, "Four months out of a lifetime is not a long time. But four months of memories that physically ache to think about.. that's a whole lot of memories. I don't know what to do with them now." In another post she shared in 2017, she talked about how grateful she felt that she could make it out alive.

Following the accident, surgeons operated on Carey's back and pelvis. Later, she lost the use of her legs for some time. Initially, recovery was difficult for Carey, but as she gradually relearned to walk, she grew thankful for the new life she gained post-accident. In her post, she expressed, "Can you imagine if I landed one meter to the left onto a concrete road, or if I didn't lift my legs when we landed, or if the instructor was 5kgs heavier, or if any other of the other million little things that happened that day were slightly different?"

Carey often reflects on the vast significance of her survival and the beauty she's encountered simply by being alive. It happened in 2013 and she spent another year recovering. Now, she has written extensively about it and also shares her learnings from the near-death experience with people worldwide. She shared, "I would have missed watching the sun rise over the ocean this morning. I would have missed learning how to surf, skate and scuba dive. I would have never discovered that I could draw or write. I would have never learned to walk again. I would have never known how strong I truly am. I would have never had the chance to grow into myself. I literally would have missed all of the best moments of my life."

She continued, "If you had asked me on that day if I wanted to live, I would have told you no. When I was laying there in so much pain, all I wanted was a way out, but instead, I was given a whole lifetime of 'thank god I'm alive to see this' moments." She shared a message of hope with people and pointed out that if someone hangs in there, life always gets better. Carey also wrote a book, "The Girl Who Fell from the Sky," elaborating on her experience. The incident has increased her appreciation for life even more.