The family of a 25-year-old British man have spoken out after he and his skydiving instructor plummeted 11,000 feet to the ground in an incident just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mitchell Deakin and his 54-year-old skydiving instructor, identified by a family friend as Jiron Arcos Ponce, suffered multiple injuries after their parachute failed to open in a skydiving attempt on September 17.
A Metropolitan Police Department report cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal details how the student and instructor were strapped together when they went into an uncontrollable spin during the fall, before landing in the desert at upward of 45 mph.
According to a GoFundMe page set up for Deakin, the Brit suffered a fractured pelvis, broken ribs, a perforated lung and a kidney laceration as a result of the fall, leaving him to be treated in University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
The page explains: “Mitch has now had surgery in America where they have put metal plates in his pelvis, so it will not collapse in on itself. He has also having liquid drained from his lung and is unable to stand/walk at the moment.”
Meanwhile, the family friend of Ponce told the Review Journal the skydiving instructor was in critical condition as of September 25.
Deakin’s mom has shared an update following the accident in which she said he’d been undergoing physiotherapy, which allowed him to walk with a frame, but he can’t put weight on his right leg.
She added: “We found out yesterday he has more internal fracture injuries in his back and ribs and pelvis than we knew about, were told they will heal as they are all stable and held in place by muscles.
“He was particularly exhausted yesterday but had a great sleep. A dietician has arranged food he does like so hopefully that we help him get stronger, he isn’t really eating very much.”
Deakin’s mom added that he is being ‘really positive’ and is ‘truly grateful’ for the support he’s received in the wake of the accident.
Isabel Clacher, who organized the GoFundMe, said the whole ordeal has been ‘extremely traumatic for him and his family and friends’ in part because Deakin ‘is so far away from home’.
“We all want him back in the UK safe, where he can be looked after by us all,” Clacher wrote. “The donations made will go towards the rest of his recovery time in America paying for any necessary medical bills, transportation and accommodation, as we do not know how long it will be until he can fly home. Mitch has told us that if there any donations are left over, he would like to donate them to a charity of his choice.”
The GoFundMe has a target of £20,000 ($27,010), and has raised £18,598 ($25,117) at the time of writing (October 2). If you’d like to donate, you can do so here.
The parachute failure is now under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.
A spokesperson for the FAA told the BBC: “The FAA investigates the packing of the main and reserve parachutes, and the rules of flight for the pilot and aircraft.
“If the FAA does not find any evidence of regulatory violation, it will defer any further investigation of the accident to local law enforcement.
“The FAA does not determine cause.”