The entire concept behind bungee jumping is a bit like a rubber band — the cord is supposed to retract and pull back. But one bungee jumper plummeted down only to find that her cord had snapped.
In an interview with The Guardian, the bungee jumper explained that she had never done the extreme sport before. But a trip to Zambia at 22 gave her the opportunity. Unfortunately, she ended up falling the entire 111 meters from the bridge into a gorge.
She explained, "I felt nervous, but never thought anything could go wrong. I was the 105th person to jump that day. I stood on the platform, looked at my ankles, which had been strapped together, and worried aloud that my feet would slip out. Someone said that would be the last thing that happened."
As she jumped, she waited for a moment for the cord to catch and snap her up. But then she suddenly hit the water and realized that something had gone terribly wrong.
She wrote, "The sound of bubbles was so loud. I felt as if I had been slapped all over. My hands had stopped me hitting the water headfirst and blacking out. My lungs were on fire and I was struggling to breathe."
Bungee Jumper Almost Died
The bungee jumper later realized just how lucky she was to still be alive. But she wasn't out the woods yet. Falling into the river below presented its own set of challenges.
She wrote, "If I had been over land, I'd have been dead. Luckily, it had rained the day before, so the river was turbulent and full. That morning, I had seen crocodiles in the water, but I couldn't think about that. I was struggling in the fast-flowing rapids, because my ankles were still tied together. The bungee cord had snapped near the top, so I still had about 30m attached to me, which kept getting caught. I was pulled downriver and underwater into whirlpools. At one point, the cord snagged below me and I was trapped below the surface. As I was running out of air and my vision started to fade, I managed to dive back down, grab the rope and pull it free. Eventually I managed to wedge my arm between two slimy rocks near the side of the river. All I thought about was clinging on."
Close Call
Following the injury, she began to cough up blood and became worried about internal injuries.
She wrote, "The paramedics got lost, and because I'd ended up on the Zimbabwean side of the river without a passport, I was essentially an illegal immigrant. I was put on a ventilator, and needed an ultrasound and to see a lung specialist. They gave me a large dose of antibiotics - the doctors were worried about how much dirty water I had ingested. X-rays showed no broken bones, but my lungs had partially collapsed. The guys from the bungee company visited me in hospital. They were very apologetic and astounded I'd survived. Facilities were basic, so I had to be flown to South Africa. Friends I'd met travelling got me my belongings and passport, so I could travel. Two weeks later, I went home."
