Robin Heid injured on BASE jump

**badenhop** · October 11th, 2004, 09:00 PM

I spoke to Joan, Robin's mom, today.
He is doing well and in fairly good spirits.
His C-5 fracture is in the front,
so no sugery but will wear a halo for months.
They opted not to do surgery on his fractured scapula,
but will let it heal naturally during his convalesce period.
His right elbow is pretty bad, as he had a previous injury.
They did a surgery on the elbow to repair it.
His real big problem is his left leg.
Compound fracture (multiple) above the ankle is very bad.
They cannot operate for a few days while swelling goes down,
so the doctors really have to watch out for infection.

I have a history with Robin, not all good,
but he is human, and a fellow BASE jumper.
He needs the prayer and hope for recovery from us all.

**base311** · October 11th, 2004, 10:12 PM

Leanne and I went by to see him yesterday and I took this statement from him this morning:

--------begin statement-------------

Kudos and heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped prepare me for transport. The professionals at the hospital said you guys were awesome! Share the knowledge!

Injuries:

Broken C5
Broken left shoulderblade
Severly broken left tib/fib
Badly gashed right elbow with lower right arm nerve damage.

For those of you who think I'm a devil, I'm happy to report that I'm being fitted with my halo today.

Now for the technical details of the jump

This began as a rigging error and ended as gross pilot error. The plan was to do a 2-3 second short delay to open high because this was a fast-moving parachute. I had a 36" PC on it. Another experienced jumper said I should use a 38" PC or bigger and I went with a 42" ZP PC that I had on hand. This created a 4 second opening because of the larger PC - resulting in a scenario exactly opposite from what I wanted and took more time to open instead of less. So I was deep in the canyon with a 40-60 degree off-heading to the right. I got the left toggle popped cleanly but missed the right - grabbing it like an old t-handle toggle on an accuracy canopy. I thought the brake was clear but it wasn't and I brainlocked and flew the rest of the dive with the right brake still set. I never attempted to clear it again as I was too busy looking at the ground. The canopy kept drifting right and I kept working it left and eventually stalled it onto the talus. This was the same canopy that I had a beautiful swoop with last year.

This event was a rigging error followed by pilot error.

Thank you very much for your thoughts and prayers.

Robin Heid
BASE 44
------------------end statement---------------

Gardner's and Leanne's Notes: Robin really took this like a man and made no complaints beyond the first few expletives anyone would utter under such duress. He realizes it is all his responsibility and, certainly, of all the injuries he sustained, his ego is probably injured the most. I know he was awfully concerned about the effect this had on the event, and I assured him that - had the winds not blown us out - we would have continued jumping ASAP. He's gonna be paying for this one bigtime. I'm sure he appreciates everyone's thoughts and prayers

Sorry I'm in a hotel right now on a public terminal and don't have the hospital contact info on me and there's some dude lurking the terminal like he wants to use it. I can tell you that he is at St. Mary-Corwin in Pueblo, CO. I'll append this with the phone numbers and address info tomorrow. Right now I gotta turn this terminal over to the lurker next to me.

BSBD,
Gardner

**badenhop** · October 11th, 2004, 11:37 PM

St. Mary-Corwin
(719) 560-4000
ICU #2003

He isn't taking calls, but the nice nurses will give him your message.

**Mac** · October 12th, 2004, 08:26 AM

speedy recovery man...........

**Tree** · October 12th, 2004, 12:15 PM

I'm curious, what kind of "fast" canopy was being base jumped? Was it ZP?

Quote: "this was a fast-moving parachute."

Good luck on your recovery. Getting hurt sucks, but it pretty much happens to all of us at one time or another.

Tree

**QuickDraw** · October 12th, 2004, 12:30 PM

Wishing Robin a quick & relativly painless recovery.

I've seen him flamed a lot of times on these boards, but i think the guy has pretty much always had the best interests of BASE at heart,
and from what I've read, works tirelessly for it's future & acceptance as a sport.

Get well soon dude.

raider747 · October 12th, 2004, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by badenhop

St. Mary-Corwin
(719) 560-4000
ICU #2003

He isn't taking calls, but the nice nurses will give him your message.

He's just getting settled into a new room outside of the ICU, #6424. Blue ones, Robin.

**stinkydragon** · October 12th, 2004, 11:58 PM

A little off topic, but why would a 42" zp cause a 4 second pc tow when a 36 or 38 wouldn't. I'm just curious and perhaps a bit confused. By the way, I don't know you Robin, but best wishes.

**nicknitro71** · October 13th, 2004, 07:20 AM

From DZ.com thread it does not seem to me the PC was at fault. He was jumping a Triathlon 135 with a sail slider.

**RexGreen** · October 13th, 2004, 06:43 PM

It wasn't a good situation, even if everything went well, he still had the task of putting that little thing in that gnarly F*%king place. I was flying a 277 (weighing 185), and after my first, which by (bad) luck, put me in the bottom to witness Robin's injury. After that I switched to my 303 for good measure. I am so new to all of this, so take this with a grain of salt, but it really wasn't a good situation that he put himself in. Bottom line is that he is healing, and I am sure he knows as well as anyone what he was doing was dangerous. My best to Robin, family and friends.

**stinkydragon** · October 13th, 2004, 10:56 PM

I was refering to specifics within Robin's statement.

"The plan was to do a 2-3 second short delay to open high because this was a fast-moving parachute. I had a 36" PC on it. Another experienced jumper said I should use a 38" PC or bigger and I went with a 42" ZP PC that I had on hand. This created a 4 second opening BECAUSE OF THE LARGER PC [emphisis added]- resulting in a scenario exactly opposite from what I wanted and took more time to open instead of less."

I was hoping for clarification of that statement and/or specific situation, as it could potentially affect me, not speculation about the accedent.

**space** · October 14th, 2004, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by nicknitro71

From DZ.com thread it does not seem to me the PC was at fault. He was jumping a Triathlon 135 with a sail slider.

I am really surprised that no one has brought up the fact that a 135sqft can hardly fly with an inflated 42" PC. I had a collaspe on a Raven 3 due to a 50" PC and slightly aggresive control. It is way too much drag. Me thinks ya got steered wrong on PC size by a well meaning jumper as well.
Take care,
Get well,
space

**QuickDraw** · October 14th, 2004, 01:49 PM

I think you just answered stinkydragon's question there..

something i was waiting for too!

freeflybreeze · October 16th, 2004, 08:09 PM

Let me first say that my heart goes out to robin. Let me next say that has anybody noted that a triathalon 135 is not a BASE canopy, nor is it in anyway appropriate for fixed object jumping. All of us up to a few years ago jumped fury 220's pushing 200lbs exit weight, but at no time did we ever jump ZP 135's with sail sliders off of that type of object, or any object for that matter. I personally was in full agreement with Marta when at the athlete's meeting she asked us to take it back a notch for safety reasons. At a time when we are so close to gaining access to jumping in national parks do we really need to push it this hard? Robin, I wish no ill will to you and I hope for you to make a full recovery, but damn dude, why !?!