The Skydiver Saved by Fire Ants After Plunging 14,500 Feet
By: Kassondra O'Hara
Tags: Survival, Humans, Science, History, Nonfiction

The Skydiver Saved by Fire Ants After Plunging 14,500 Feet

Photo by Kamil Pietrzak on Unsplash

There are people such as me who tend to play it safe. I don’t care to meet my maker before absolutely necessary. Then there are people who love living on the edge, running towards the unthinkable and sometimes achieving the impossible. They seek the surge of adrenaline that runs through their bodies when they push it to the brink. What could bring on more of an adrenaline rush than jumping out of a plane at 14,500 feet?

Skydiving is a pretty common activity for thrill-seekers. It often winds up on bucket lists and is considered an extreme sport by many. As dangerous as leaping from a plane and falling towards the ground at a terminal velocity of 120 mph sounds, it is actually considered safer than driving a car.

In 2012, only 19 people died in parachuting accidents in the United States, while an estimated 34,000 people died in car accidents.

If you make one skydiving jump a year, your chance of dying is roughly one in 100,000.

Deaths resulting from skydiving can occur for several different reasons, no pull/low pull, meaning that they did not deploy their chute or did so at too low of an altitude, malfunctions, canopy collisions, reserve chute problems, or landing problems. The common factor in almost all of these issues however is human error.

It goes without saying that if you were to fall 14,500 feet at a velocity of 120 mph, you would be expected to die on impact. The human body is just not designed to withstand that amount of trauma. It is immensely rare for someone to survive a skydiving accident that results in their plummeting to the ground below, but it has happened, several times in fact. One of those people, who had a little help in her survival, was Joan Murray.

Joan Murray

Joan Murray was a 47-year-old bank executive for the Bank of America that lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. She loved her family, her job, and her newly found passion for skydiving. Joan had participated in several hours of skydiving training, and up to this point had completed 35 jumps. She wasn’t exactly a pro but was far from being a novice. On September 25, 1999, Joan woke up, traveled the one-hour trip to Chester County, SC, and joyfully geared up.

Joan felt her excitement surge as the plane took off and ascended into the sky. As they reached the required altitude, Joan waited for the all-clear and then rocked herself out of the plane door. She rejoiced in the fall, the feel of the wind pushing against her body as she looked out over the landscape. Approximately 45 seconds into her freefall, she reached and pulled her hackey (the small bar that deploys the parachute). She expected the slow release of the chute that would slow her fall and allow her to coast safely to the ground. Instead…nothing happened.

Worst Case Scenario

She had to think quickly. Her chute did not deploy as it had the previous 35 times that she had done this. It’s ok. That’s what the reserve chute is for. She pulled and the reserve chute deployed just as it should. She began to slow in her descent, but then the unthinkable happened. She began to spin. As she began quickly spinning, the cords of her reserve chute became entangled. She was once again falling fast.

At 700 feet, her reserve chute completely deflated, and she was rushing towards the Earth at 80 mph. Onlookers could only watch in horror as Joan’s body slammed into the ground nearby. Emergency responders were notified and quickly rushed to the scene.

Joan was rushed to the hospital where doctors were sure that she would not survive. The entire right side of her body was crushed due to the impact. It even knocked the fillings out of her teeth. Doctors were baffled that she was still alive and over the course of her treatment, they noticed small red bumps all over her body.

They eventually came to realize that they were in fact fire ant bites. Apparently, whenever Joan landed, she disturbed a fire ant mound and was bitten over 200 times. Most would call this adding insult to injury, but in Joan’s case, these insects saved her life.

Nature’s Remedy

Fire ants secrete a venom known as solenopsin. When the fire ants continued to sting Joan as she was waiting for medical personnel, they released this venom, which basically stimulated her nervous system and kept her heart beating.

Red Fire Ants / Source

Joan remained in a coma for two weeks but was able to make a full recovery after 20 reconstructive surgeries and 17 blood transfusions. She had rods placed in her legs and spikes in her pelvis to basically put her back together. She began physical therapy and was able to walk from her wheelchair to the car upon leaving the hospital.

Her doctor even wrote “miracle” on the front of her file before putting it away.

Joan’s Second Chance

Joan continued to work at the Bank of America after her accident, turning down disability. In 2001, shortly after returning to work, she completed her 37th skydive. Her response when she was asked if this jump was a success?