A Washington state woman diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth is remarkably believed to have set a skydiving record.
Tania Finlayson, who has no control of her limbs and has been non-verbal since birth, recently completed the historic tandem jump with instructor Zephaniah Knottnerus.
Following her husband Ken and their 20-year-old son Michael out of the plane, Finlayson and Knottnerus jumped from 17,694 feet, reaching a speed of 125 mph.
And in doing so, they believe they’ve set a new state record for the greatest droguefall distance and maximum vertical speed droguefall.
For the uninitiated, a droguefall parachute is a small chute that is deployed immediately after jumping out of a plane. Its purpose is to stabilize tandem jumpers and slow them down enough to allow for their main chute to open safely.
Yet Finlayson, who uses a customized computer communication system, is no novice skydiver. She has more than 50 jumps to her name, she told ABC News.
A woman diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth is believed to have set a skydiving record
Tania Finlayson, who has no control of her limbs and has been non-verbal since birth, recently completed the historic tandem jump
Finlayson said it felt ‘really special and honestly, a bit surreal’ to have completed the skydive
‘Skydiving feels like freedom to me,’ Finlayson said through the computer. ‘For a little while, I am not defined by my disability.’
She is now awaiting confirmation on her data from the United States Parachute Association (USPA).
The USPA defines a ‘drogue’ as a ‘trailing drag device’ used to slow a diver down in the air and ‘regulate the fall rate of tandem skydivers.’
Finlayson said it felt ‘really special and honestly, a bit surreal’ to have completed the record-breaking skydive.
‘Skydiving is one of the rare experiences where we can all fully participate side by side and that means everything to me,’ she said.
