Patellar tendon rupture - PT and wingload

[oscarsan 0]

Hi

On July 18th I was skydiving in finland, had a normal landing, bit of no wind and over the asphalt, maybe too high flare, came fast down, touch with my right leg the groung and hear pops, touch left and the same. Had a double patellar tendon rupture. 2 weeks after I´m sitting in the sofa after surgery with those legs straps (donjoy) which just bend 10 degrees, doctor give me total 6 weeks of minimal movement. I was hoping to hear if anyone have had similar problem, maybe one leg only which is much more common (bad luck). I have been reading some blogs in which they start the PT much earlier than 6 weeks, so, any experience?

Second, sitting here in the sofa and getting a good use of netflix i´m starting to wonder, what i could do to be safer when i go back to the sky, because i will, and my first thought was, should i get smaller wing load?. I have 165 jumps 64 jumps during this season, really wanted to put the 200 this year, but, no options. My wing load os 1.3 on a Sabre 2 150 sq-ft. Thinking to change to Safire II 159, or even 169, but is this the solution to my problem?, somehow i notice this year that i come quite fast down, my flaring is not really good, don´t know if it is because of my past as a paraglider or i´m just need more practice, i guess that asphalt and the too high flare at no wind combination was fatal.

Any advices in both lines will be appreciated, the PT and wing load.

Cheers and blue skies for everyone!

[Andy9o8 2]

The opinions (even if styled as "experiences") of total strangers, most of whom are not trained medical professionals, to help you justify starting PT earlier than YOUR DOCTORS prescribe, are absolutely worthless.

[riggerrob 643]

You probably caught the downside of a thermal rising off the hot asphalt. That downdraft increased your rate of descent.

[riggerrob 643]

I agree with your thoughts about decreasing your wing-loading, but you need to think much bigger.
If you are currently jumping a Sabre 150, a 159 or 1969 will not make much difference.
Try borrowing a 230 square foot canopy.

[Croc 0]

I had a similiar accident last year resulting in a torn meniscus. It wasn't too bad so I continued to jump the remainder of the season, delaying surgery until the winter. This year I upsized from a 150 Pilot to a 188, also a Pilot. I had been satisfied with my landings (except that one) but no-wind landings were always tense. Now I have no problems at all. I feel confidant enough to wear a weight belt on a no-wind day, too.

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy