Some people go through life thinking they can live forever. Or, they may do something that’s risky and accept the fact that it involves a particular risk.
But, in the end, they may have to think again.
What can be sadder that this story underscoring the truly unpredictible nature of fate — this story about a beloved skydiver who died after colliding with the plane he used for the jump. From Elites TV:
Albert ‘Gus’ Wing III was a respected and experienced sky diver. The Longwood, Florida man even choreographed dives for videos and was well known and respected in the sky diving community. Wing was killed Saturday afternoon, however, during a dive when he collided with a plane in midair. Both of his legs were severed at the knees according to local officials. Wing was rushed to the hospital after landing but later died of his injuries.
14 other skydivers were in the air at the time of the accident. Apparently, Wing, 50, struck the wing of the plane as he opened his parachute. There is no word as to whether the pilot of the plane was injured in the accident as well.
Even after this terrible tragedy happened, Wing showed professionalism and courage:
Local police in Deland, Florida issued a statement saying, ‘He managed to maneuver the parachute and land. The airplane landed safely and police investigators observed damage to the plane’s left wing.’
And these additional details from the Orlando Sun-Sentinel are truly haunting:
Megan Trombino’s first jump from an airplane was probably her last.
Eager to experience the thrill of free falling from 12,000 feet, yet anxious, she and her boyfriend found the money to sky dive more easily than the nerve — until Albert “Gus” Wing III greeted them at the DeLand Airport on Saturday morning. Wing, 50, a legendary aerial photographer, had been jumping from planes for 30 years.
“He just had the biggest smile on his face,” Trombino, an 18-year-old Stetson University education major from suburban Chicago, said in an interview Sunday. “It’s a scary thing to go jump out of an airplane, and he made us feel instantly safe.”
But as Trombino drifted to the ground, something horrible happened.
The wise-cracking photographer, whose work has been featured in movies and magazines, floated into the path of the Twin Otter aircraft from which he and 14 other sky divers had leapt.
The collision sheared off his legs at the knees, but witnesses said he managed to maneuver the parachute and land. He died at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach.
Anyone who sky dives knows the risk. But they have a certain kind of risk in mind.
In this case, fate had a different idea.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.