Full Story of William's (Liam's) May 28th Skydiving Accident
After filming an uneventful tandem skydive, Liam open at roughly 2000 feet and set out to land at the Buckeye dropzone. Flying an Icarus EXTreme-FX 99 and with over 2300 jumps, Liam decided to land in the tandem landing area. Approaching the landing area Liam performed a right hand hook turn and setup to come in from a direction that Liam had never tried before. The landing would bring Liam over the cars and just past the rocks. (Even though Liam had parked under the power lines for the last 2 years, he forgot about the lines.) As Liam setup on final approach and traveling between 60 to 70 mph, with literally only a second before hitting the lines, Liam caught a glimmer of silver and realized his mistake. With that second to spare, Liam raised his left arm to deflect the lines (saving him from decapitation) and turned his head to the left reducing the impact to his face. Hitting the power lines while still in a right hand turn (Liam’s normal landing style) the right side canopy lines caught the upper power line while the first power line rolled up Liam’s face leaving marks in his goggles. As Liam swung up (eventually higher than the power poles) the canopies lines were cut by the power lines, until Liam’s swing reach a point where he was released from the power lines and sent spiraling to the ground. Liam’s right leg struck the ground first, breaking both the tibia and the fibula so much so that the tibia projected out of the right side of Liam’s ankle. Liam’s left leg hit second and planted very similar to the way in which a gymnast might stick a landing and stopped Liam’s rotation to the left. With both legs in contact with the ground the impact force was sent up Liam’s legs as his upper torso compressed down resulting in Liam’s pelvis splitting open. Liam then fell to the ground on his right side. The resulting impact did no damage to Liam’s back, ribs, knees or femurs.
Tyler (Sylvester) witnessed the accident and yelled for help. Wild Bill called 911, while Gery (Liam’s excellent packer) and Tyler ran to Liam’s aid. After determining the situation, Gery kept Liam from moving and turned off Liam’s helmet camera removing the helmet from the scene (a very common practice in the skydiving world). Liam remained conscience and screamed in pain begging to be knocked out. Liam’s buddies (Gary, Mike, Freak, Leonard, Louis and many more) kept him calm and helped coordinate the emergency efforts that followed. When the paramedics wanted to cut off Liam’s rig (Javelin Odyssey NJ w/Cypres & PD126), they were stopped and Liam’s buddies carefully removed the rig and saved it from damage. The Air Evac team led by Donnell, arrived via helicopter and promptly stabilized Liam.
Liam remained on the ground for an estimated 45 minutes before being airlifted to the hospital. The delay in moving Liam was caused by the nature of his injuries and because of concern for Liam’s reaction to the proposed use of Morphine. Liam was told that he would die if transported via an ambulance and that his only option was the helicopter. Liam was finally moved to the helicopter once he yelled out that he was only intolerant of Morphine and not allergic. Liam does not remember much beyond that moment, but he was always being cared for by his buddies on the ground, in the helicopter, and at the hospital.
One last note that needs to be considered is that the extent of Liam’s pelvis injury was not able to be determined until Liam reached the hospital. Once it was determined that Liam had an 'Open Book' pelvis injury, it was stated by one of the emergency responders that Liam probably had not more than 5 minutes to live..... It was a close one, but Liam has been closer.
What does not kill me makes me stronger, but mostly through the help of my friends.
After a few years of living with the changes that Liam experienced, a few minor adjustments were needed as well as some closure. With respect to closure, Liam eventually made a trip back to Florida with the ashes of his left leg mixed with the ashes of Xerxes (his trusted feline son), where Liam then walked out into the Atlantic Ocean and let the ashes flow into the current. Liam was born and raised near the Atlantic and the act of letting the ashes go provided closure on the event of losing his leg and also in returning Xerxes’ ashes back to his home.
