guest
October 26th, 1999, 06:30 AM
To Tom and all those who were close to Jan. I did my first base jump at BD this year and I was digusted by the need for you to have a cause such as "It's our Park Too", land of the free my ass. This is a massive setback, but to all those who are writing the cause off as dead in the water, shame on you. One of your fellow jumpers died. Let it not be in vain, the press have called this ironic, only in their eyes as it makes a good headline. You weren't there to show that this is a safe sport, it's not. The point was that there is no equality in the parks policy, that still stands. They keep on repeating 21 deaths in 20 years. That's a pretty damned good track record for a new adventure sport. I don't know but I presume on a scale that this figure drops significantly from the sports inception to today. Rally together and pick out points like this, argue them until people start to hear them. Wrong as it may seem Jan's death need not be in vain, it has given all Base Jumpers a chance to air their views. Photos of the accident are on websites (sick!) it's been all over the news. Before it shrinks back into the realms of some nutcases pastime, sieze the day and fight back. The media used Jan's death to sell papers, isn't it only right that her death gets used as she would have wanted it, the reason she died, as a means to get your voice heard.
To the jumpers, what you did was brave and selfless, well done and sorry it ended the way it did.
The Irish base and skydiving community's thoughts are with Tom Sanders, friends and family.
To the jumpers, what you did was brave and selfless, well done and sorry it ended the way it did.
The Irish base and skydiving community's thoughts are with Tom Sanders, friends and family.