The Man Who Used His Own Body as a Crash Pad
In
2009, veteran Texas skydiving instructor Dave Hartsock was in the middle
of a 13,000-feet-high tandem jump with Shirley Dygert, a grandmother
and first-time diver, when he discovered that neither of his two
parachutes would open all the way to stop their free fall. Red alerts
screamed through his brain as he struggled to untangle the parachute
lines. They fell thousands of feet, then a few thousand more. With just
seconds left to go before impact, Hartsock opted to use control toggles
to rotate his body so that he'd cushion Dygert, absorbing the brunt of
the force when the two of them hit the ground.
Hartsock's quick thinking saved Dygert's life. While she sustained some
injuries, she recovered and is able to function normally. But Hartsock
paid a monumental price. The fall paralyzed him from the neck down, most
likely permanently, and he now needs help to do things as basic as
getting dressed or taking a bath. Dygert, who has kept in touch with
Hartsock since the accident, sometimes tears up when she thinks about
what a sacrifice her instructor made for her, saying, "How can somebody
have that much love for another person?"
Would Hartsock have made the same heroic choice if he'd known what was
going to happen to him? Absolutely, he says. "When people do a tandem,
they don't know about body position—they're just looking for a
once-in-a-lifetime experience. Shirley sure didn't know how to do it
without hurting herself. Better me than her."
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