pmckenna9999

I respect the opinion of everyone who has commented thus far. 1. After pondering for a while, I realized it is not death that I am afraid of (like I mentioned earlier) it is the crippled dependant state that I dislike being in. I have no one here to care for me and a crippling injury would mean I would be very hard pressed to find some aid. 2. In retrospect, I was very keen on the AFF until I read the incident / fatality forum here. The fatalities didnt frighten me, the injuries did. People having arms pop out of their sockets commonly, having spinal injuries, breaking legs etc. Ok, I'll admit I have broken my leg atleast 2 times and a cast for sometime and you'll be ok but spinal injury etc ::shudder:: 3. My family isnt controlling me, like I said I am totally independent from them - live in a country 1000s of miles away, earn my own money, live on my own expenses etc. but I can't bear to hurt 4 people I love. I love this forum and the people associated with it, I wish I could be like them.. it will have to wait!

I am a person who is avidly interested in skydiving, has 2 tandem jumps to his credit and was seriously considering AFF. As explained, I am not expert, novice or anyone with considerable skills in skydiving. All that I have to my credit is that I had the guts to jump out of a plane twice and would love to do it many more times. But I am not going to pursue this dream for the following reasons 1. Safety - This is my primary concern. I am a loner in this country, I dont have family or close friends who will take care of me if I were to get injured in this sport. I dont fear getting killed atleast that way there is no hassle to me or to anyone else - its done. But I read so many of these "injury" cases with paralysis, fused spines, cracked hips etc. I shudder to think I would be left in a dependent state if something were to go wrong. This sport still needs something innovative to increase the safety margin - I dont know what it is but it has to come from within the community or military and should improve the safety of this sport whether it be hard landings, hard openings, canopy failure etc. 2. Family Backlash - My family though not residing with me, is vehemently opposing this move of mine. They were ok with the 1 tandem ride concerned about the second and virulently opposed to the AFF. I am not the person who will make 4 people unhappy just to make myself happy. I think if the safety of this sport were to increase there would be less backlash from my family 3. Money - This is the last of my concerns and not really a concern but I put it in here to elaborate the link between money and safety. I'm not sure any amount I spend can bring me the assurance of safety in this sport. In many other sports (which are otherwise considered to be dangerous e.g. car racing) you can throw a huge pile of money at safety equipment and buy yourself a good margin for error albeit not a total assurance. I would think that is not quite applicable in skydiving. Now, some of you here may disagree completely with me and argue that the thrill of this sport is in the risk. But I remember someone quoting on this forum "I'd rather be on the ground wishing I was in the sky, than be in the sky wishing I was on the ground". I will be calling my DZ and cancelling my AFP transition class tomorrow. I will however ardently follow this sport and the enhancements in safety until I reach a stage in my life where I just dont care about it anymore or I feel confident enough to re-enter the sport. Thank You P.S - From this forum, I have recieved so much knowledge and education, I cant thank you all enough. Please continue to share, it helps even wannabes like me make the choice appropriate for us