West Australian Skydive Instructor Saves Life Of Trainee Who Suffers Seizure Mid-Air At 9,000 Feet [Video]

A West Australian skydive instructor saved the life of a trainee who suffered seizure mid-air during a routine training in Pinjarra. The young man had the seizure when he was at 9,000 feet.

22-year-old Christopher Jones was undergoing a routine training program and was soon to become a licensed qualified jumper. While the jump from the plane at 12,000 feet went fine for Jones, he fell unconscious when he was at 9,000 feet and fell sharply towards the ground at 124 miles-per-hour as he convulsed.

The entire incident was being caught on camera. Jones’ instructor Sheldon McFarlane also jumped with him as the camera attached to his body recorded the incident. The convulsion went on as Jones fell free for 30 seconds. He went further away from his instructor, whose quick thinking made the difference.

McFarlane grabbed Jones as soon as the 22-year-old moved closer to him after hovering around mid-air. It was 4,000 feet when the instructor was able to stop Jones from turning over, pull his ripcord and release his parachute. The West Australia Skydiving Academy instructor later said that he was glad to get Jones and make sure he had a parachute above his head.

Jones, who suffers from epilepsy, said he was back to his senses after falling for another 1,000 feet. “Then the next thing I know I wake up at 3,000 feet, thankfully underneath a fully inflated parachute,” Jones talked about the incident which had taken place in November when he was on stage five of the school’s “Accelerated Free Fall program.”

The video was published on YouTube on Sunday, Mar. 1 by “Nomadic Adrenaline.” The video attracted more than seven million views (7,072,676). In the description of the video, Jones calls it “possibly the scariest moment” of his life. Jones called McFarlane “a massive hero” for saving his life.

YouTube users showered accolades on McFarlane. While “Daphne Tameia” thinks that he “deserves an award,” “SmallChodeFTW” believes that the “guy is a hero for saving his life.” “Annie Lu” says that she “can't even imagine what could have happened if the instructor wasn't with him.”