http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2012/01/08/dnt-woman-survives-bungee-fall.nine-network.html

It's almost unbelievable that this chick not only survived, but went relatively unscathed. The fall could have killed her, she could of drowned, crocs or hippos could have gotten her, but she was just bruised and cut up a bit.

I did two back-to-back jumps here in 2005 at the same spot. The bridge is a pedestrian walkway and railway that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe just south of the Victoria Falls. The outfitter is run by a bunch of very sketchy Zimbabweans and it does NOT surprise me at all that this happened. The first time I jumped, I did the traditional head-first bound-ankled jump. Having tandem skydived, I will say that this is a totally different experience. Inching your bound feet to the edge of the platform and looking down is far scarier then anything that takes place throughout a skydiving experience. It was incredible, and when I made it back up to the top, an employee asked me if I wanted to do it again. I declined, saying that I didn't have enough money for another jump and I was told it wouldn't cost me any more. It was near the end of the day, and they didn't have many anybody waiting so I said hell yeah let's go again. When it came time to be harnessed up this time, the instructor asked if I wanted to do the same style jump or try something new. I said let's do something different so he said alright we're going with the "Star Elevator" jump then. They rigged me in a chest harness this time with nothing on my legs, and the harness hooked into the cord right in front of my sternum. I walked backwards on to the platform and received a LOT of instructions because this is a much more dangerous jump. He told me that I had to keep my arms pointing out at the sides and my legs shoulder-width apart (like a star) and keep looking up, basically falling feet-first in a spread eagle position. He also said it was important not to grab the rope, to jump backwards off the ledge and to fall straight down (like an elevator) and not to lean forward or the rope could go around my neck, and not to lean backwards or the rope could retract between my legs and I quote "You'll be talking like Michael Jackson for a while." Well I initially jumped in the right position, and the jump was just as amazing as the first, but I made a big mistake. On the first recoil I instinctively grabbed the rope with one hand and it caused the rope to wrap around my neck as I sprung upwards until I reached the apex and the cord had several coils around me. When I started to fall back down, my head thankfully pulled through the coils, but it was so close that the cord absolutely raked my nose so badly the skin was red and stingy for a week like the worst rugburn ever. And then when I started to fall and the rope really started stretching again, the twisted cord flung me downwards and torqued me like a yo-yo. The rest of the recoils were uneventful, but it was a worrisome few seconds in an already terrifying experience. I would bungee again (probably with a safer outfitter next time) but if you ever do it, I'd say don't take safety for granted. Even if commercially offered, it still is quite dangerous with a lot that can go wrong.

1/9/2012 5:57:17 PM

get that block of text shit out of here

1/9/2012 6:02:53 PM

read it for a minute, it's a good story

1/9/2012 6:05:01 PM

Damn! And she's cute too! It would have been a real shame had things gone worse.

1/9/2012 6:06:48 PM

nobody gives a fuck

1/9/2012 6:12:21 PM

Quote :

"COULD OF DROWNED"

that's as far as I got.

1/9/2012 6:16:06 PM

Yep you confirmed my suspicions that I should never ever bungee jump.

1/9/2012 6:32:50 PM

I've never done this and have absolutely NO desire to do this. But looking at the video the cord looks very frayed. Is that normal??

1/9/2012 6:52:19 PM

yeh, there are few things i want to do less than bungee jumping

1/9/2012 6:55:47 PM

1/9/2012 6:59:17 PM

1/9/2012 7:52:16 PM

I, too, watched National G 20 years ago.

1/9/2012 7:55:08 PM

I have thought about bungee jumping but worry that I might go into cardiac arrest on the way down. Waaaaaay different than jumping out of an airplane.

1/9/2012 7:55:30 PM

oh did ya?

1/9/2012 7:55:48 PM