In 1986 I was 18 years old and terrified of heights. That's why as I stood in the doorway of the airplane I was about to depart from at a ridiculously high altitude the thought was passing through my head that there are definitely easier ways to make a living. But then again I was of the Top Gun Generation that joined the US Navy because they wanted to be Maverick or Goose on Combat Air Patrol searching for unidentified Bogies.
Unfortunately somewhere between swearing in before boot camp and my current gut wrenching predicament the Naval Aviator goal got messed up and in lieu of cruising along at Mach 2 with my hair on fire I was instead about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane flying along miles above the ground. Like my Chief said, "I didn't have to like it I just had to do it!"
Its funny how life- if you'll excuse the Gumpism- is really like a box of Chocolates. You think your getting one thing when in reality you get something else. Sometimes its good, sometimes you put the chocolate back half eaten more wise for the experience.
The Red light blinked and turned on. Time for final equipment check. I turned to the guy to my right and checked his straps. He was fine. While he checked my straps I turned to the guy to my left and checked his straps. He was fine too. I received a tap on my shoulder telling me that I was OK and ready to go. I turned towards the door.
In 2 seconds I was about to jump out of this airplane and take another bite from the box.
The red light turned green and the jump master yelled, "GO! GO! GO!". Before I knew it I was out the door and falling to earth at 32 feet per second per second.
By the way, Hello! How are you doing? The guy falling through the air without the greatest of ease, is me Petty Officer Second Class Dennis T. Borja originally from the island of Guam. Did I mention that I hate heights?
I counted: one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand four. I looked in what I thought was the up direction and saw no one above me so I waved one hand above my head to signal to the other jumpers that I was about to deploy my chute and with the other hand I yanked on the rip cord as hard as I could.
I listened to hear the relieving sound of unfurling silk and I felt for the sudden jolt as the air cells in my chute deployed. I waited...I waited...it felt like an eternity as I waited but all I heard was the wind rushing by my free falling body.
Did I mention that I was afraid of heights and my body was currently traveling towards the earth at between 120 and 156 miles per hour?
I yanked even harder on the handle but still nothing happened. The fringes of panic were starting to set in as the ground started to come at me faster and faster. Then the training kicked in as the drill instructor voice in my head started to yell obscenities too foul for this PG-13 letter. The general gist of what he was saying was fix the problem and do it now.
I looked above me to confirm that my main chute had indeed not deployed. Nothing but blue sky. I reached for the handle of my reserve chute and gave it a huge yank. I waited...I waited...but still nothing! Did I mention that I was afraid of heights and all this excitement wasn't helping matters much?
I remember yelling further obscenities followed by a very dramatic, "today is not a good day to die and I gave it one last pull." My canopy finally blossomed round!
When a parachute deploys you go from a terminal velocity of over 100 miles per hour to about 30 miles per hour in about 2 seconds. If you are in the correct position when this happens the force is harmlessly dissipated throughout your parachute harness in much the same way a seatbelt saves you in a motor vehicle accident. Unfortunately when my reserve parachute deployed my body was positioned sideways and parallel to the ground.
This meant that the full force of the parachute opening was at just the right angle and just the right amount of force to make my head touch my feet sideways in a very unnatural fashion.
By the time I landed my back was in so much pain I couldn't even stand up. To make matters worse my left leg was going numb. They rushed me to the hospital.
The doctor whose help I sought gave me pain medication that did not help. She then referred me to a Physical therapist. Several weeks of this care also did not help and to make matters worse my foot was beginning to go numb. I was then referred to a surgeon.
After reviewing my case the surgeon said that there was nothing that could be done for me because I wasn't bad enough. I was about to give up when the surgeon suggested that I try a Chiropractor.
I walked into the office of a chiropractor not knowing what to expect. I explained what had happened to me and she stated, "I can't promise that I can help you but I will do my best". The Doctor adjusted me 3 times over the course of two days and on the third adjustment it was like a light going off in my head I was suddenly pain and symptom free. The Chiropractor succeeded in helping me. Furthermore she did it without the use of drugs or surgery.
This single event was so earth shattering to me that it made me realize that I too wanted to become a Chiropractor. After 8 and a half years of service to my country in the US Navy I got out and went to school for another 8 plus years to became a Doctor of Chiropractic so that I could make a difference in people's lives the way that that chiropractor had made a difference in my life.
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