After the fall ...

A young woman makes an astonishing comeback through Bikram Yoga after suffering from a parachuting accident !

Roughly 4 years ago I did my first jump and absolutely fell in love with Skydiving, I have approx 350 jumps now. I was jumping at a Drop Zone down in Hawaii on June 28th when the winds picked up and I was blown into the power lines. The transformer blew up on impact catching my chute on fire and ripping it off. I went back into freefall a landed 40 ft away on the freeway, NO reserve parachute out! (No cars hit me and there were no accidents)

911 was called and fellow jumpers were on the scene almost immediately. I traveled half way to the hospital via ambulance but where most of my bones came out of the skin when they broke I had lost a lot of blood, they had to have a helicopter come meet us to get me to the OR. (Ironically enough, it's ALWAYS been a dream of mine to do a Skydive from a Heli….but that's another story.)

So, I was rushed in for surgery with 2 broken legs (Tib, Fib and Femur), broken hips, pelvis and I had lost my left (dominant) arm. I also had a big cut on my forehead….oh, and the small things like broken toes and fingers and 2 black eyes. Ken, I was in hard shape buddy!! (LOL)

The medical team on call that day in Hawaii were amazing! I didn't lose consciousness once from the time I thundered in 'til I arrived at the hospital in Honolulu, I even told the surgeons to make sure I was under and to do a good job. (LOL) I thought I had lost my left eye because the skin was folded down over and I couldn't see. I had been asking people what my face looked like but no one would tell me. I had no idea how salvageable my arm was, or the severity of my legs.

I will never forget the feeling of hearing from my Orthopedic Surgeon say that (although it would most likely be with the use of a walker or a cane for the rest of my life) I would walk again. I was within millimeter's of doing spinal damage that would have left me paralyzed from the waist down. My Rehabilitation has been remarkably fast and my surgeon's are still amazed at my ability to "bounce back" (No pun….ha ha!!) I know there are many factors that have helped with the healing process: love and prayer's, my family and my wonderful boyfriend Jason for being SO strong for me when I didn't have the strength, and my Bikram Yoga!! The hot Yoga I do now as my full time physio to help rehabilitate, the Yoga I will do for the rest of my life to help prevent arthritis and whatever else these rods and screws and plates might throw at me as I get older, and the Yoga I have done. There is not one doctor I've met since this accident (and there have been a lot) that doesn't look at my chart and tell me, without a doubt, that had I not been in the physical shape I was prior to the accident I would not have come away so lucky.

I still have a few more surgery's ahead, one possible hip replacement, depending on my blood supply, and I still don't have full use of my left arm due to nerve damage….that I'm sure I'll worked through though!! Everyday I can feel myself getting stronger and stronger both physically and mentally. I've never been one to think everything happens for a reason, I believe we create our own reality. I lost my mother to cancer a few years ago, she had a quote framed and when she passed away I took it from her hospital bed. It said "OUR DESTINY IS SHAPED BY OUR THOUGHTS AND OUR ACTIONS. WE CANNOT DIRECT THE WIND, BUT WE CAN ADJUST THE SAILS." And don't I know the power of wind now!! Life is short man, it can change in an instant, or the better or for the worst…..one day you could be a middle income family and the next win the lottery and be a millionaire, or, one day you could be flying through the air one minute and crashing on the freeway the next

http://www.bikramyogalangford.com/images/media/readers_digest_dec2008.pdf