“See, I told ya!”
Jumper Dies at W.Va. Bridge Day, Festivities Continue
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. Oct 21, 2006 (AP)— Thousands of people watched a parachutist jump to his death from a bridge during a popular festival Saturday when his chute opened too late, a sheriff said.
Brian Lee Schubert, 66, died of injuries suffered when he hit the New River, 876 feet below the New River Gorge Bridge, officials said. After the man’s body was recovered and taken to a local funeral home, jumping at the festival resumed, said Fayette County Sheriff Bill Laird.
The crowd below the bridge gave a “collective gasp” when people realized the chute was not opening, he said.
“It was everybody kind of held their breath then an eerie silence afterward. Everybody kind of looked at each other and said ‘Wow,'” Whitener said.
Laird said the jumping was allowed to continue because it didn’t appear weather was a factor in the accident.
Would you have continued your festivities or gone home? Anyway, it’s amazing how on-the-mark Frost’s poem is, eh?
Hey Dvorak, wake up and do your TWIT.
Apparently it is the culture or spirit of base jumping to keep jumping when this happens, pretty sick I think.
Expect the video of this to circulate soon.
And Dvorak – do your TWIT 🙂
– Thats how I first heard of you, It is why I look at “dvorak.org/blog”
There’s nothing wrong with dying, especially when it is from pursuing one’s passion. Billions and billions have died before us. It is what gives life meaning. I just wonder what was his last words or thoughts. It’s a bummer to go out screaming, “OH, SHIT!”
Never knock on death’s door. Ring the bell and run away. Death hates that.
A large rock obscured the crowd’s view of the man’s body hitting the water, Whitener said.
I saw the video on the local news. The rock did not obstruct the camera’s view. But the camera was far enough away that you could see the splash but could not make out the details.
It was G W Bush’s fault.
I went rafting on that river just this summer. It was so foggy that day, that you literally could not see the bridge from 100 feet away (In case you aren’t a bridge fact junkie, it is currently the largest single arch bridge in the western hemisphere).
Our guide told us a story just as we were passing underneath. A few years ago, he was in the same spot, when he saw a group of people hanging out on the edge. While he was looking up, he noticed that someone at the top had dropped something. Something was tumbling down towards from from over 1000 feet above. As it got closer, he could make out the shape of a can, a beer can. There are no rapids just upstream from the bridge, so no one was wearing their helmets. The guide couldn’t believe it, but the can was getting dangerously close to the boat. In a flash, it had struck a man in the raft directly on top of hes head, knocking him over the edge into the river.
Luckily it didn’t do too much damage as it was a light beer.
7# Probably a bud light at that.
I used to live in W.V.
I’m sure everyone said Wow.. then.. Who’s next?
Adrenalin junkies! Who else would jump off a perfectly good bridge with a parachute.
#7, if it were zero calories it wouldn’t weigh anything and therefore it would hit the water with no energy, but fall at freefall speed. That’s probably what happened on 9/11– the Twin Towers were calorie-free and that’s why they were so hungry that they fell to chase pancakes not realizing it was only a theory of falling. Another crackpot idea brought to you by Imbeciles for America: showing the light so you stay in darkness.
If I should die while doing what I am passionate about, I hope that all those who share my passion would, to honor my death, NOT stop doing what they were also passionate about.
So, if I die, please keep picking up hookers at truckstops, carving them up in ritualistic fashion, and dumping their lifeless bodies in the woods.
The show must go on. Break a leg
Hey all,
I’m a skydiver and I understand what jumping is all about. It affects all skydivers when one of us “goes in.” Many skydivers chose to take up B.A.S.E jumping as an additional hobby and source of adrenalin. I stick to jumping out of airplanes, but I don’t judge. Until you have experienced skydiving or BASE jumping, you will not understand the excitement, power, and freedom that it grants you if only for a brief moment in time.
BSBD to our fallen brother! Fly Free!!!
For more info about skydivers, skydiving, etc.. see
http://www.dropzone.com.
#13…..Corey…..yep…all that freedom can come to a big thump, if your chute don’t open.