Shayna Richardson's One and Only Post...Read It and Get Over It!!!!

[Ashtanga 0]

The girl has six jumps. She doesn't know all of the terminology for the gear malfunctions, etc. The press came to her and she just said what she thought. Ignorance on facts is not stupidity on facts. Now if someone with 500 jumps went on TV and said this it would be something different. Don't try to make her look like and idiot because she is new to the sport and doesn't know the etiquette, etc. She didn't.

[pilotdave 0]

Quote

Her interviews skew the facts in hopes of obtaining handouts.

The facts may not be 100% accurate, but they're freaking close enough. The cause of her main canopy "malfunction" doesn't really matter. Haven't you ever seen an AFF1 student cut away for absolutely no reason? She at least had SOMETHING wrong with her main, regardless of what caused it or how easy it could have been to fix.

Why do skydivers think it matters how accurate her story is? This is no Scott Lutz embellishment. These are minor details that she may not have fully understood herself.

As far as saying she didn't have proper instruction, how the fuck do you know? Because she cut away when she didn't really need to? Because of what she said on TV interviews? Come on... get real. You didn't sit in on her FJC or anything else. You don't know how well she was trained. AFF students at the big DZs that have the best instructors do dumb shit too...they're students, they're supposed to make dumb mistakes. Once her reserve was out, as far as I can tell, it was a done deal. It was a reserve malfunction. An equipment failure. Very rare, but apparently they do happen and maybe some people learned from this.

I don't think she made skydiving look bad at all. She made it look great, but dangerous. THAT'S THE TRUTH. You want MORE people showing up at your DZ thinking skydiving is perfectly safe and it's ok to do without insurance because nobody ever gets hurt doing it? Come on... you're asking for more accidents like this one...

Dave

[tso-d_chris 0]

Quote

The girl has six jumps. She doesn't know all of the terminology for the gear malfunctions, etc. The press came to her and she just said what she thought. Ignorance on facts is not stupidity on facts. Now if someone with 500 jumps went on TV and said this it would be something different. Don't try to make her look like and idiot because she is new to the sport and doesn't know the etiquette, etc. She didn't.

She's been in the sport for a year. How long does it take to learn the "etiquette?"

For Great Deals on Gear

[NelKel 0]

Shayna, re read this statment. This is the bottom line, and I think it is worded perfectly. This is what everyone one is in an uproar about. Your one post could have been more constructive with details, instead you came on here trying to defend yourself, and as you can see you have accomplished nothing:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Reply To
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Am I the only one that doesn't understand why people are making such a huge ordeal over this topic?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


She was put out on inappropriate gear, without adequate instruction to operate the gear in a manner that allowed for a safe landing under an open parachute.

The interviews give the impression that the gear failed (the main did not malfunction), or that she was the only person at fault. She was set up for failure by her instructor before she exited the aircraft. Her interviews skew the facts in hopes of obtaining handouts. g!

_________________________________________

Someone dies, someone says how stupid, someone says it was avoidable, someone says how to avoid it, someone calls them an idiot, someone proposes rule chan

[Ashtanga 0]

Everyone wants skydiving on TV and in the Olympics but when someone else gets attention let's not let them enjoy it but pick on everything that you think went wrong and how you would have done it differently. Say swooping is in the Olympics and someone misses the approach and kills themselves in front of the world. Is that OK because the "cool" people are doing it? That would have the same reaction in the world as Shayna's misshap yet some of the top athletes in this sport are doing everything they can to get it out to the world.

You should start throwing rocks at the swoopers to. No you won't do that because they are "cool" and you don't want to have a bad name with them. Yet you won't think twice of trying to make a newbie look like an idiot.

[tso-d_chris 0]

Quote

As far as saying she didn't have proper instruction, how . . . do you know?

What I said was:

Quote

She was put out on inappropriate gear, without adequate instruction to operate the gear in a manner that allowed for a safe landing under an open parachute.

She failed to control two landable canopies. I fail to see how she could have had "adequate instruction to operate the gear in a manner that allowed for a safe landing under an open parachute." I think those to failures are indicative of inadequate training.

Quote

AFF students at the big DZs that have the best instructors do dumb shit too...they're students, they're supposed to make dumb mistakes.

I'm not sure where you got the impression that the big drop zones have the best instructors. The best instructors I have encountered have been on a small dz. At any rate this was her tenth jump, not her first.

For Great Deals on Gear

[tso-d_chris 0]

Quote

Yet you won't think twice of trying to make a newbie look like an idiot.

Reread my post. IMO the bulk of the blame lies with the instructor, not the newbie. I have no doubt she reacted to situations under canopy the best she knew how.

For Great Deals on Gear

[Ashtanga 0]

That wasn't just directed at you but everyone else to.

I'm am just speaking up because everyone is nailing her and it is not fair to do to a student.

[skybytch 273]

Quote

Everyone wants skydiving on TV and in the Olympics

Not everyone.

[PhreeZone 20]

Quote

Everyone wants skydiving on TV and in the Olympics

No we don't. There is a large % of jumpers that are completley against it.

I've commented to a few swoopers that have titanium in them about how they made their mistakes and evey one of them have owned up to it.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

Why should I have to run around with no teeth in my mouth for the rest of my life because of a accident?!?!? I need help, and this country is full of people who can do just that...and I will find them!

A lot of noise about this sentence, looks like almost 10 pages of it.

How many people here would not even bother to post if she's have phrased it without the selfish, self-righteous, entitlement attitude? (I caught that, but I'm pretty cynical any more about the I deserve something just because I feel sorry for myself attitude - but since I don't know her personally, I can't make that assumption on an individual basis.)

Maybe something like "I'm looking for help as I'm in over my head on these unplanned medical expenses. I wish I could handle this since I'm responible for the consequences of my actions, but I have to ask for charity anyway. I don't demand help, but certainly appreciate those inclined to help."

Charity is supposed to be selfless, but it's hard to give unless you expect something in society to improve as a result - something permanent, not just instant gratification for the recipients. A lot of us have no problem with giving "CHARITY", but those asking for charity have to realize it is just that, a voluntary gift, not a right. Until then, it's a lot more difficult for those inclined to do for purely selfless reasons. (If I go further into forced charity via taxes, etc, this becomes SC material - don't want that now, do we?)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Ashtanga 0]

How about someone takes time to educate her on the reasons why people don't want videos such as hers to go mainstream and how it could affect the sport instead of just beating her down until she wants nothing to do with aviation in general. Hell, she'll probably be afraid to fly in a plane after all this.

This experience could be a educating tool for newbies on some of the thought processes in the sport and what the general consensus is.

I have personally seen 3 students cutaway from perfectly good canopies. In the end they were happy with their decision and their instructors did not beat them to the ground verbally. To this day they still say that they made the decision and they are happy they did. If it happened again they know what to do.

[Jeth 0]

Quote

Oh and wing loading is out the window when a student is on ZP or other high performance canopies. A 170 is too small for student jumps. Regardless of what you weigh.

Ok, I have seen this said over and over and I just have to point out again -- THERE ARE WELL-RESPECTED DZ'S AND INSTRUCTORS THAT PUT STUDENTS ON ZP 170'S EVERY DAY. I was trained at SDC and they use Sabre2's, and put most students out on their first jump at just under 1:1. I was on a 190, and I had fellow students on 170's, and 150's for the smaller girls.

I don't feel that this was an unsafe thing to do, or put me at an undue high risk. Yes, I was going faster than if I was under some huge boat. But I think the benefit of learning to fly a "real" canopy from the beginning outweighted any increased risk. We were taught how to fly and flare it properly, and the instructors were very concious of the winds and grounded us often.

As far as this accident -- from the reports I have seen, it does seem like Shayna has been very positive about the sport. Ok, maybe she mentioned that she thought the reserve was the "guaranteed backup". C'mon! She has 9 jumps!! I have seen her express her love for the sport and I saw her speaking highly of her dz and her instructors. Ya, she fucked up. She didn't react in the way she was supposed to. But many people have fucked up (me included). Everything is a learning experience. She's damn lucky that she is still here to learn from this one. I think she knows that. And I did hear her say it was her fault. I don't see where you people are saying she's not taking responsiblity.

Ok, yes, she should've been insured. And while we're being judgemental, she shouldn't have gotten knocked up without a job or health insurance either. But people do that every day. And c'mon, she's 21! Many young people do many stupid things! I can't believe the wrath she's taking for this. It's like as if she is on tv saying how the sport is terribly dangerous, her instructors were idiots, the plane was unsafe, and all her gear failed. BUT SHE ISN'T!! So why is she being treated like this? I don't get it.

I completely agree with taking responsibility for oneself. And although her post does sound like she thinks she's entitled, I don't think she does. She was upset when she wrote it. She knows she fucked up, doesn't blame anyone for it, still loves the sport, but now she's hoping for some help. What is so terrible with that? Geez people!

Now if she ends up driving some new sports car from her "donations", then I'll be pissed. But I think she just wants some new teeth. Who wouldn't?

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[Ron 10]

Quote

So before we all get to criticizing others for not being covered, consider the circumstances

I think that jumping without insurance is bad judgement. You want to tell me to consider the circumstances....OK. Have you?

A buddy broke his leg. It was a clean break of the femur. Not exactly a good bone to break, but it was broken in the best possible way. He had a good job, but no insurance. His medical bill was 75,000.00 He declared bankruptcy.

Another buddy broke his leg from a miss timed flare. Tib Fib and it was kinda ugly. I know how ugly it was since I held his leg together till the paramedics showed up. He made good money didn't have insurance. His medical bill was 107,000.00. This was several years ago and he may never pay it off. His doctor performed one procedure on him that was cheaper, but not as good as a more costly procedure. The Dr's reason? "I'm not going to spend that much when we will never see a penny of it." So my buddy now has scars and limited movement. The other procedure would have been much better, but since hospitals only need to perform a certain level of service thats all they will do.

Quincy years ago the hospital was getting really pissed at all the skydivers that didn't have insurance and stuck the hospital with unpaid bills.

These are just a few stories where I knew the amounts of the medical bills. There are plenty more where the person who if they had medical insurance when they got hurt would have recoverd fine both physically and financally, but didn't since they did not have insurance.

Add in that the new bankruptcy laws make it very hard to declare to get out of medical debt and the picture is not very good.

You don't have insurance due to your job and hobby. OK, but you *need* a job and *want* a hobby.

Skydiving is not a need. To do a high risk sport, just cause you want to, when you could lose everything is bad judgment.

I compare it to driving drunk.

Quote

Ron, this is an utterly rediculous statement on your behalf

Why is it rediculous for me to not want to pay for your bad choices? I think it would be stupid to want to pay for someone elses bad choice without bitching about it. Like it or not we all pay when an uninsured skydiver gets hurt.

Quote

In any event, everyone here knows the second you exit the jumpcraft that may be the last sane thing they will ever do, anybody that thinks they can't be killed, or seriously maimed for life is in denial.

Yep and while there are thouse out there this thread is about knowing that AND taking every effort to not screw it up.

KNOWING the risks don't you think its stupid to endanger not only your life, but your wifes financial future just so you can have fun?

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Ron 10]

Quote

This statement is speculative at the least. I saw her television interview, i heard her story as she told it, i have not hear her deviate from the first story. As far as HER pursuing the media, do you really think it was her pursuing the media, or the media pursuing her?

Then you have not read her statments to the media before she got national attention.

Read them, they are posted in here somewhere, and then get back to me.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Ron 10]

Quote

I agree. Also, why should we have fund raisers for family members( chris martin) After all he should not of been jumping that small canopy should he?
Gus wing. Now why should we give money to his family. He knew the risks right? To say it's taking money from us fucking sickens me. I tell you, just as you thought skydivers were good people in comes the fucking negativity

The difference was WE got togther to help Chris and Gus. The families did not start a media shitstorm that put the sport in a bad light and ask for help. In fact Gus's Family AVOIDED the media.

That is the difference that you and Tammi seemed to have missed or not cared about.

Asking at the DZ is one thing, milking the media and putting the sport in a bad light is another.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[micro 0]

not a reply to jeth, just to this thread in general.

i've been really conflicted about this whole crazy story.

first, I was pretty miffed about this girl and her BF/instructor and the bad press skydiving has been getting.

then, after reading all the stuff here, I got to thinking that a lot of skydivers here have dug deep for other jumpers who have had accidents w/o insurance or w/ insufficient insurance.

so why the two stories? some jumpers will dig deep for some jumpers but not for others... i wonder, is it b/c this chic and her bf seemed to be slandering the sport and giving skydivers a bad name (at least in many posters opinions)? If that's true, that seems pretty lame to me. "If you're part of the brotherhood, we'll help you, but if you do anything that remotely looks like you're fucking us (or the sport), we'll fuck you back, or at least not help you at all."

i'm not sticking up for this girl, don't get me wrong... i mean, i'm a very charitable guy. i thithe a substantial portion of my income. i've flown many friends and family members across the country for free on my airline points. i've thought about helping this girl out. a good friend of mine is a dentist who does a lot of charity work.

but w/ comments like this...

"Why should I have to run around with no teeth in my mouth for the rest of my life because of a accident?!?!? I need help, and this country is full of people who can do just that...and I will find them!"

Sorry charlie. An underserved sense of entitlement will keep my wallet shut every time.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[skinnyshrek 0]

So your just saying its how you go about asking!!
All were involved in skydiving accidents. Yet, because she went on tv to ask for help that's the problem.

http://www.skydivethefarm.com

do you realize that when you critisize people you dont know over the internet, you become part of a growing society of twats? ARE YOU ONE OF THEM?

[Ron 10]

Quote

So your just saying its how you go about asking!!
All were involved in skydiving accidents. Yet, because she went on tv to ask for help that's the problem

Yep that and her sense of being entitled to our help she used here:

Quote

"Why should I have to run around with no teeth in my mouth for the rest of my life because of a accident?!?!? I need help, and this country is full of people who can do just that...and I will find them!"

Rhem said it best if she dropped the attitude she would get more than with "One and Only Post...Read It and Get Over It!!!!"

If you come to a group and start off yelling and act like they owe you...Well don't expect to get much help.

People want to help, but they don't want to get beat up till they help.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[skybytch 273]

Quote

How many people here would not even bother to post if she's have phrased it without the selfish, self-righteous, entitlement attitude?

That statement is my only issue with the whole thing.

I'm missing a few teeth myself. Why should I have to go through life looking like a crack whore when it's not my fault I got bad teeth genes and can't afford dental insurance, much less dental work? Maybe I need to go find those same people and have them buy me some new teeth too.

[Ashtanga 0]

Quote

I'm missing a few teeth myself. Why should I have to go through life looking like a crack whore when it's not my fault I got bad teeth genes and can't afford dental insurance, much less dental work? Maybe I need to go find those same people and have them buy me some new teeth too.

Sometimes missing teeth is a good thing.

[Shawndiver 0]

Skinnyshrek, not a direct reply to you, just my view on this situation:

Shayna made a very poor decision getting into a high risk sport with no medical coverage. Unfortunately, the dice rolled against her, and she was critically injured in the outcome. In my younger days, there but for the grace of god walked I (and, I suspect, a significant percentage of this audience in pursuit of some endeavor or another). I was willing to take the risk knowing the consequences could have been severe, but I was 20 something and pretty much invincible. Luckily, I made it through that period intact.

So, getting back to Shayna, this left her with some pretty glum choices.

A} Go through the next 20 years of her life in abject poverty, disfigured, probably disabled to some degree, and oh, yeah, raising a child to boot. This scenario is a little more serious than having to have to eat Top Ramen and having to bicycle to work for the next couple of years to make up for your foolish mistake.

B} By some chance, the media picked up on her story, out of all the miserable, life changing events that happened to hundreds of others during this period, she won the media lottery. By default giving her a chance to reach an international audience. This audience includes a whole range of people including:

The holier than thou crowd with all the right answers and the attitude that everyone should be as perfect as they are…and

Probably a smaller percentage of people that actually do have some charity in their hearts and are willing to forgive a young woman’s foolish choices and are willing to help her to rebuild her life.

Choices, choices.

Suck it up and live up to the reality of choice A, or, swallow your pride, grab the chance of an out given to you, and drastically increase your chances of a normal life for you and your child. Given the outcome of the first choice, I can’t blame her for making the choice she made. Sucks to be her, she made some really stupid decisions, but she has decided to take the road that although it is not the politically correct choice, will give her some sort of a chance for recovery from a event that came within inches of killing her.

I say, give her a break. And for those that would have sucked it up and taken the harder road above, thank you for protecting my sport and not placing a heavier financial burden on us I’d be happy to give you a dollar on the street as I passed you by…

_________________

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Quote

Rhem said it best if she dropped the attitude she would get more than with "One and Only Post...Read It and Get Over It!!!!"

A more tepid post would have received a few less reactive posts. However, the day this hit the news there were over a dozen threads on this topic. Each topic pre-judged her for what GMA et al said. Then the local prop-turns drama entered into a few of the threads and it went downhill from there.

Her reaction to the roasting she was getting from people almost fully ignorant of the situation is understandable. Was it the best way to handle a mob? Nope.

The fact is many jumpers make stupid choices about this sport on a daily basis. I doubt that will ever stop. The whole "should have, would have, might have and why didn't you" arguments usually get us no where. The only positive is the hope that one or two people walk away educated. However, this topic seems to have shown more of the ugly side of how this sport will go out of it's way to eat its young to prove they are right.

She made her choices. She got lucky on a good bounce with bad injuries (could have been worse). She made additional choices afterwards. Hopefully she has learned from this and will grow. Do I agree/disagree with any of her choices? That doesn't matter.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[skycat 0]

Quote

Maybe something like "I'm looking for help as I'm in over my head on these unplanned medical expenses. I wish I could handle this since I'm responsible for the consequences of my actions, but I have to ask for charity anyway. I don't demand help, but certainly appreciate those inclined to help."

*raises hand* I probably would have helped if she had phrased like that rather than demanding people help her. Now I'm just disgusted, and even if she came back saying she didn't mean it that way ect ect I still wouldn't help her out. I've sent money for many causes from injured skydivers, the local humane society to MS and breast cancer research, but not once have any of them demanded I give money, heck the only one that even asks for donations is the humane society but since it's for the animals and they are no kill shelter (yes I know some goes towards overhead) I don't mind .

Oh and the only thing that bothered me about the media attention is the fact that I have had every co-worker and family member call me freaking out saying how bad skydiving gear is. *sigh* How do you explain to someone that isn't in the sport that you know you can do everything right and still die.

Fly it like you stole it!

[artistcalledian 0]

Quote

Quote

Am I the only one that doesn't understand why people are making such a huge ordeal over this topic?

She was put out on inappropriate gear, without adequate instruction to operate the gear in a manner that allowed for a safe landing under an open parachute.

The interviews give the impression that the gear failed (the main did not malfunction), or that she was the only person at fault. She was set up for failure by her instructor before she exited the aircraft. Her interviews skew the facts in hopes of obtaining handouts.

even though this is a short post, i fell asleep reading it, thanks a "bunch"

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police