Shayna Richardson's One and Only Post...Read It and Get Over It!!!!

Well, all i am saying is why should we help anyone out then. There is nothing wrong with her going on tv asking for help. YOU do not have to give anything so why is it an inconvenience to you in anyway?
As for JFTC or any other charity. Aren't they asking for money of people? Yes, they are charities. So that makes all the difference then?
I will only choose to give to a charity though that isn't associated with smoking, As that causes cancer. Self inflicted!

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That is for charity for something that NO one askes for

I was asked to donate. I did so for the last 2 years and will happily continue to do so. I bet you're one of those jumpers that wouldn't jump without a Cypres aren't you? To dangerous? To scary?

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my only question is that was rick, your instructor on disability aid, while instructing skydiving. (this was mentioned in discussions) if so, laws have been broken. if not, none have in that area anyway

does anyone care about this question besides me?

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That is for charity for something that NO one askes for

I was asked to donate. I did so for the last 2 years and will happily continue to do so. I bet you're one of those jumpers that wouldn't jump without a Cypres aren't you? To dangerous? To scary?

I also gave to JFTC and will continue to do so. There is nothing wrong with giving or asking for help!
If, the statement that we shouldn't jump without insurance the we should not leave the house without insurance!

One other quick note on the insurance thing...

I'm getting real tired of bucking up some money to buy a box to bury a 'broke' buddy in.

Two words~

LIFE INSURANCE!

i have all the wood working tools required to build a pine box. and, i will provide shovles for the hole. or some diesel if the person wants to be cremated.

It's sad that this has happened but if someone is generous to donate to her medical bills then I dont see the problem, but thats me. She made a mistake and I'm sure she regrets it and it seems that some people are trying to rub her face in the dirt for making a mistake any other person in the skydiving community could have made.


I am trying not to take sides, but in this case I think people really need to think about the situation and not kick someone while their down.

Do you really think she wants to beg for help?


Stay safe out there guys

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my only question is that was rick, your instructor on disability aid, while instructing skydiving. (this was mentioned in discussions) if so, laws have been broken. if not, none have in that area anyway

does anyone care about this question besides me?

Problem is, you aren't going to get an answer from her. This is her "one and only post." She was just on here long enough to be dramatic, then split.

yeah, i hear you.

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That is for charity for something that NO one askes for

I was asked to donate. I did so for the last 2 years and will happily continue to do so. I bet you're one of those jumpers that wouldn't jump without a Cypres aren't you? To dangerous? To scary?

Actually you are wrong. It is my responsiblity not to die remember Would I get on a 100 way with a bunch of people I didnt know? Nope. But I would jump with out one.

Sorry but cypres, and health insurance are different, now if you asked if I would jump with out life insurance that is diffrent, do that all the time . But then again I dont have anyone else depending on me.

Like I said, and will say again, if you jump with out insurance, you (and that isnt just you, but everyone) had better be ready todeal with things if they go wrong.

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There is nothing wrong with her going on tv asking for help

Really? What do you think that coverage did to skydivings public image? The story alone is terrible, broadcasting the video as well at least doubles the negative impact.

Hasn't this issue been covered with regards to Real TV? If I'm not mistaken, the general consensus was that Real TV is not good for skydiving, and most folks agreed that they would not release footage to them for this reason.

As far as JFTC, come on, thats one of the best things to happen to skydiving in a long time. Aside from the obvious benefit of raising money for research, the publicity is nothing but positive. All women, setting a record, and raising money? My biggest disappointment was that it didn't recieve more coverage.

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I also gave to JFTC and will continue to do so. There is nothing wrong with giving or asking for help!
If, the statement that we shouldn't jump without insurance the we should not leave the house without insurance!

Please. The risk of major injury is unquestionably higher for skydiving than for daily life. None of my other friends are sporting titanium in their body. And it is a recreational activity. In other words - OPTIONAL.

As Phree wrote, high deductable health insurance is cheap, esp for healthy people in their 20s (ie, most of the uninsured weekend skydivers). $59/month gets you $5M in coverage, at a max cost of about 3000 to the person. Some even allow for a few routine visits with a $30-40 copay.

The message from Shayna (and her mom) that I really didn't like was - "get over it." What happened to living and learning? There are fishy bits about the accident itself that may have been avoidable. The financial hit definitely could have and should have been. Hopefully others will benefit.

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She was just on here long enough to be dramatic, then split.

Too bad. She would have fit in well here.

There is no such thing as bad publicity.

ANything good or bad about skydiving is good for business.

My phone has rang more since this happened then a week before I was closing for season.

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Ok dude what does JFTC have to do with someone pounding themselves in and asking for money?

Part of the money from JFTC goes to cancer research...to help those that get breast cancer, not something they chose. BIG DIFFERENCE here buddy. That is for charity for something that NO one askes for.

JFTC has similarities to 'someone pounding themselves in and asking for money'.
Smoking is a known risk factor for cancer. There were many women from JFTC that smoke, including Mallory Tarcher and Lesley Gale. Someone lighting up and then asking for money for cancer research, jump money and hotels etc is saying 'Hey I want to find a cure for cancer and jump with your money so that I can continue on with my risky behavior'. The difference between the two is that one solicits money before a tragedy and one solicits money after a tragedy.

When I lived in Tucson, there was a little boy that had some accident or disease or something. His parents went on the local TV stations to solicit money because their insurance coverage was used up to the maximums. The response was so great they had extra money. They bought some expensive car. That also got the attention of the media. Now there are laws (in AZ anyway) that say that the funds must be used for medical bills, not new toys.

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From what i saw on tv she claimed 100% fault. So, she fucked up. Get over it.

Hm, I saw differently. All the segments I saw on TV (as has been discussed to death in the other thread) blatantly stated "both parachutes failed" which I'm under the impression it didn't actually occur that way. This was the case for all the local Colorado news channels as well as FOX News and CNN. Now I'm not saying that was Shayna's fault but it just dissapoints me when something like this happens and gets blown into a media circus on how dangerous skydiving is. Sure we're all taking a calculated risk but IMHO the general public's view on our sport is heavily skewed.

As for health insurance, talking about all the other skydivers or swoopers or world champions who don't have health insurance does not make it an OK thing to do. Frankly, that's stupid thing to do and we all know that.

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There is no such thing as bad publicity.

ANything good or bad about skydiving is good for business.

My phone has rang more since this happened then a week before I was closing for season.

Glad to know the most important thing to you about the projecting of an unfairly negative image of skydiving and skydivers is the short-term effect on your wallet. Excuse me if I don't share your enthusiasm.

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JFTC has similarities to 'someone pounding themselves in and asking for money'.
Smoking is a known risk factor for cancer

That I cannot argue as my mom died from cancer, and yes you guessed it she smoked. However, smoking is not the only cause for cancer. There are a crap load of people who get cancer and never smoke. That is the bigger picture on this.

I have no issue with people asking for help when they have made an effort to do this on their own. Sometimes the insurance money does run out, and sometimes shit does happen.

But when you make a choice, knowing it could seriously hurt or kill you...and do not take proper precautions...that is different.

This will come across cold, I love my mother, I miss her dearly. The bottom line, she killed herself, this was nothing but her own fault. I never once put the blame elsewhere ever! I didnt go crying a river that the doctors didnt save her, or that the evil world took he from me. She did this all on her own.

It is about choices, and people making poor ones.

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We were thrilled to see your television segment and thought it was a positive story for our sport.

This made me lol.

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She is taking responsibilty by asking for help! What should she do?

She should never take such chances without health insurance. That is just irresponsible.

She should have a job and insurance before she should have considered skydiving.

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She's moving forward, and asked for helped

She is asking for handouts.

j

So each time you take your car, you accept that you will die or get hurt? So you can not complain that you have lost your legs after some traffic accident, because you choose to drive and you choose the risk to loose your legs? Or that some bank robber shot your mother because she choose to go to that specific bank that specific day, so it was really her choice to get shot?
I have seen some crazy reasoning on this site.

She needs to pay some bills, with or without insurance she has to pay them. If you were in her case, and I really don't believe she took the decision to wreck her body, I am really interested what you would do?

I understand that she takes the responsibility of the accident on her, without blaming somebody. It's her choice to ask money, it's your choice to pay or not.

Jump more, talk less and be lucky that it wasn't you who was hurt.


Jurgen

THe media!

well good for her, maybe she'd like to correct this article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051213/ap_on_re_us/skydiver_s_plunge

"I heard a snap and I started spinning and I didn't know why. I didn't know what to do to fix it. I didn't know how to make it stop," Richardson told Fort Smith, Ark., television station KFSM.
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"It's called your guaranteed open. That's what everyone refers to it as," Richardson said.

But the reserve didn't open all the way.

"To have a malfunctioning reserve is one in a million. It just doesn't happen," Richardson said.

that, to me, looks like she's blaming the gear. she goes on to say she decided to die, yadda yadda yadda, but i don't see anything that remotely suggests "i was at fault, it's 100% my fault, the gear didn't fail, i did"

after that, she can move on to this article:
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=21872
"Imagine jumping out of an airplane and having your parachute fail, but you somehow survive the impact. That's what happened to 21-year-old Shayna Richardson of Joplin, Mo., while she was skydiving in Siloam Springs, Ark. in October."

I'm glad she went on TV and owned up, but again, my gripe remains: overall, the news media reported it as a gear failure, not "operator error" as it probably should have been reported.

Actually you are wrong. It is my responsiblity not to die remember Would I get on a 100 way with a bunch of people I didnt know? Nope. But I would jump with out one.

Sorry but cypres, and health insurance are different, now if you asked if I would jump with out life insurance that is diffrent, do that all the time . But then again I dont have anyone else depending on me.

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Like I said, and will say again, if you jump with out insurance, you (and that isnt just you, but everyone) had better be ready todeal with things if they go wrong.

A very nice reply. I agree with what you are saying. perhaps we are just saying it differently with some personal and minor differences. Jump safe and take care.

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There is no such thing as bad publicity.

ANything good or bad about skydiving is good for business.

My phone has rang more since this happened then a week before I was closing for season.

Are you saying injuries, near-deaths and deaths are GOOD for this sport??
Cause what I'm hearing is it's good for your paycheck.