Feature Writer Romeo Edmead – The Wrong Way Down
The last thing Lareece Butler remembers is saying a prayer, as she began her horrifying 1000 meter plunge from an airplane to the ground below. Her next recollection is waking up days later in a hospital with bruising and a fractured pelvis. If surviving such a hellacious accident is not astonishing enough, then the 26-year-old resident of East London’s explanation of the events prior to her fall may be even more unfathomable. According to Ms. Butler, her assent in to the sky was for skydiving purposes, which she had successfully done before. But this time, stage
fright got the better of her. She said she lost her nerve when after being slated as the 4th jumper she, “watched the other three guys jump but all three of them got tangled in their cords and one of them was spinning.” Then Ms. Butler alleges that after notifying an experienced female jumper, who is believed to be an employee of the company EC Skydivers, that she changed her mind, the woman shoved her. After clinging to the plane Ms. Butler said she was pushed again, and her freefall began. Adding to her terror, her main and emergency parachutes did not open correctly.
After being cognizant of such severe allegations, EC Skydivers
manager Joos Vos said Ms. Butler’s accusations were erroneous. He said, “These claims are unfounded. We have investigated these allegations and obtained statements from the people in the aircraft.” Mr. Vos added that Ms. Butler jumped under her own power, and stated that her parachute became tangled because she was not stable prior to jumping. He also accused her of not performing her reserve procedure. At this point Ms. Butler is just anticipating going home to her family which includes a 2-year-old son.
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