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Woman who survived 15,000 foot skydive after parachute didn't open says she remembers everything about it

Woman who survived 15,000 foot skydive after parachute didn't open says she remembers everything about it

She was told she’d probably never walk again but has made an incredible recovery

A woman who plunged 15,000 feet after a parachute problem remembers every single second of the horrific experience.

Australian Emma Carey was hoping to tick a lifelong dream off her list when she arranged to go skydiving in the Swiss Alps - but that dream soon turned to a reality after her parachute got tangled sending her plummeting to the ground below. You can see her talk about here:

Somewhat incredibly, despite falling 4.5km, Emma survived the fall but was paralysed from the waist down and was told she’d likely never walk again.

As Emma was conscious the entire time, she has a crystal clear memory of the day and the horrifying incident.

She told Sunrise: “I was never knocked unconscious. So I remember the fall, I remember landing, I remember the moment I realised I was paralysed - all of it.

“The first thing I felt when I hit the ground was just overwhelming pain in my whole body.

“I didn’t know where it was coming from, I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Emma says the memory of the horrific fall helps reminds her to be grateful of life.

Emma Carey survived the 4.5km fall.
Instagram/em_carey

During an interview earlier this year, Emma said she thought she had just 10 seconds left to live.

She said: “I know how it feels. To think I only have 10 seconds left to live and now I get the rest of my life, whatever that is, so I think it's actually really nice for me to have that memory because it helps to keep me grateful.

“Life really changed from that moment on and I also feel like every day from that date is just extra time that I get to live, so I should celebrate that.”

Although Emma was initially told she would be paralysed, as time went on she started to regain some feeling in her legs and slowly learnt how to walk again.


Emma has since written a book - titled The Girl who Fell from the Sky - about her remarkable recovery and hopes it will inspire others to not take life for granted.

She said: “I think because I have the memory of the fall, even though it was a really traumatic thing to live through, it actually helped me because I experienced that deep sense of regret that I didn’t have much longer to live and how much I still wanted to do,” she said.

“So, when I survived, even though I was paralysed and things were hard, I felt so lucky to still be here.”

Featured Image Credit: A Current Affair/YouTube

Topics: Australia